Islamic Republic referendum
30—31 March 1979[1] / Farvardin 10—11, 1358 SH
In the Name of the Almighty [God]
Provisional Government of Islamic Revolution
The Interior Ministry
Referendum Election Ballot
Age-old [monarchial] regime change to Islamic republic, the constitution of which will be approved by the nation — Yes or No?[2]
The two-parts ballot of referendum, with the green paper indicating "Yes" and red paper indicating "No"[2]
Results
Choice
 Votes  %
Yes 20,147,855 99.31%
No 140,996 0.69%
Total votes 20,288,851 100.00%
Registered voters/turnout ~22,000,000[1] 89[3]%

A referendum on creating an Islamic Republic was held in Iran on 30 and 31 March 1979. Ayatollah Khomeini did not allow an open referendum, insisting that the Iranian population had chosen an "Islamic Republic" already by demonstrating against the Shah. In response, political parties such as the National Democratic Front and the Fadaiyan Khalgh boycotted the referendum.

The Mojahedin Khalgh, the Tudeh Party, The Liberation Movement, the National Front, and the Islamic People's Republican Party, also "objected to the imposition of Khomeini's choice".[4] According to "official results", it was approved by 98.2% of eligible citizens.[3][5]

In order to include the Iranian youth who participated in the revolution, the voting age was lowered from 18 to 16.[3]

Following this, the 1906 constitution was declared invalid and a new constitution for an Islamic state was created and ratified by another referendum in December 1979.

Party policies

Position Organizations Ref
Yes
Islamic Republican Party[4]
National Front[4][6]
Freedom Movement [4][6]
Tudeh Party [4][6]
People's Mojahedin Organization [4]
Muslim People's Republic Party [4]
Toilers Party [7]
Iran Party
Pan-Iranist Party
Nation Party
Boycott
 National Democratic Front[4]
Organization of People's Fedai Guerrillas[8]
People's Fedai Guerrillas[9]
Peykar
Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan[10]
Komala Party of Iranian Kurdistan[10]

Voting

Woman casting her vote

The Interim Government of Iran invited a four-man delegation of international jurists from International Association of Democratic Lawyers to monitor the voting.[11] According to The Washington Post, polling places lacked voting booths and the colored ballots could clearly be seen by observers, quoting head of the delegation "this is not the way we do things in the West, and it does not meet our criteria of democracy".[12] Sadegh Zibakalam describes the referendum as "free and fair".[13] Michael Axworthy states "there may have been some irregularities in the referendum, but most balanced observers then and since have accepted that whatever the conditions, a referendum at that time with that question would always have given a massive majority for the same result".[14]

A huge voter turnout was reported nationwide, except for Turkmen Sahra and Iranian Kurdistan, where the referendum was not held in full due to ongoing armed conflicts.[15]

Results

Choice Votes %
For20,147,85599.3
Against140,9960.7
Valid Votes20,288,851100
Source: Nohlen et al[1]
Choice Votes
Number of Eligible Voters20,857,391
Number of Actual Voters20,440,108
Voter Turnout98%
Source: Iran Social Science Data Portal[16]

Results by province

Province Votes Proportion of votes
Yes No Yes No
East Azerbaijan Province 2,001,628 5,354 99.73% 0.27%
West Azerbaijan Province 640,323 5,547 99.14% 0.86%
Isfahan Province 1,357,605 4,470 99.67% 0.33%
Ilam Province 161,942 16 99.99% 0.01%
Bakhtaran Province 612,830 6,159 99.00% 1.00%
Bushehr Province 200,023 333 99.83% 0.17%
Tehran Province 3,462,449 72,980 97.94% 2.06%
Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari Province 210,936 885 99.58% 0.42%
Khorasan Province 1,983,458 6,712 99.66% 0.34%
Khuzestan Province 1,248,591 8,557 99.32% 0.68%
Zanjan Province 765,786 875 99.89% 0.11%
Semnan Province 185,674 424 99.77% 0.23%
Sistan and Baluchestan Province 314,319 1,052 99.67% 0.33%
Fars Province 1,224,821 5,281 99.57% 0.43%
Kordestan Province 318,360 2,570 99.20% 0.80%
Kerman Province 651,011 1,507 99.77% 0.23%
Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad Province 159,463 254 99.84% 0.16%
Gilan Province 810,708 7,539 99.08% 0.92%
Lorestan Province 643,216 821 99.87% 0.13%
Mazandaran Province 1,205,501 3,871 99.68% 0.32%
Markazi Province 771,189 1,052 99.86% 0.14%
Hormozgan Province 252,791 3,842 98.50% 1.50%
Hamedan Province 744,636 1,023 99.86% 0.14%
Yazd Province 241,024 187 99.92% 0.08%
Abroad 118,069 12,444 90.47% 9.53%
Total 20,286,353 153,755 99.25% 0.75%
Source: Ministry of Interior

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 Nohlen, Dieter; Grotz, Florian; Hartmann, Christof (2001). "Iran". Elections in Asia: A Data Handbook. Vol. I. Oxford University Press. p. 68. ISBN 0-19-924958-X.
  2. 1 2 Hovsepian-Bearce, Yvette (2015). The Political Ideology of Ayatollah Khamenei: Out of the Mouth of the Supreme Leader of Iran. Routledge. p. 13. ISBN 978-1317605829.
  3. 1 2 3 Hiro, Dilip (2013). Holy Wars (Routledge Revivals): The Rise of Islamic Fundamentalism. Routledge. p. 169. ISBN 978-1135048310.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Paydar, Parvin (1995). Women and the Political Process in Twentieth-Century Iran. Cambridge University Press. p. 226. ISBN 978-0-521-59572-8.
  5. ↑ Chehabi, Houchang Esfandiar (1986). Modernist Shi'ism and Politics: The Liberation Movement of Iran (PhD Dissertation). Vol. I/II. Yale University. p. 499. ASIN B0007CAVDC.
  6. 1 2 3 Baktiari, Bahman (1996). Parliamentary Politics in Revolutionary Iran: The Institutionalization of Factional Politics. University Press of Florida. p. 55. ISBN 978-0-8130-1461-6.
  7. ↑ Haddad Adel, Gholamali; Elmi, Mohammad Jafar; Taromi-Rad, Hassan. Political Parties: Selected Entries from Encyclopaedia of the World of Islam. EWI Press. pp. 209–215. ISBN 9781908433022.
  8. ↑ Hiro, Dilip (2013). Iran Under the Ayatollahs (Routledge Revivals). Routledge. p. 128. ISBN 978-1135043810.
  9. ↑ Maziar, Behrooz (2000). Rebels With A Cause: The Failure of the Left in Iran. I.B.Tauris. p. 109. ISBN 1860646301.
  10. 1 2 Romano, David (2006). The Kurdish Nationalist Movement: Opportunity, Mobilization and Identity. Cambridge Middle East studies, 22. Cambridge University Press. p. 236. ISBN 978-0-521-85041-4. OCLC 61425259.
  11. ↑ Albala, Nuri; Dossou, Robert; Dreyfus, Nicole; Youssoufi, Abderahmane (May 1979), Commission internationale d'enquete en Iran sur la preparation et le deroulement du referendum des 30 et 31 mars, la situation actuelle des droits de Phomme et la mise en place des nouvelles institutions, les crimes du regime Pahlavi (in French), Association Internationale des Juristes Démocrates
  12. ↑ Ronald Koven (2 April 1979). "Khomeini Decrees Islamic Republic After Vote in Iran". The Washington Post. Retrieved 25 January 2017.
  13. ↑ Sadegh Zibakalam (2014). "To Rule or Not to Rule? An Alternative Look at the Political Life of Ayatollah Khomeini between 1960 and 1980". In Arshin Adib-Moghaddam (ed.). A Critical Introduction to Khomeini. Cambridge University Press. p. 272. ISBN 978-1-107-72906-3.
  14. ↑ Axworthy, Michael (2013), Revolutionary Iran: A History of the Islamic Republic, Oxford University Press, pp. 373–374
  15. ↑ "Landslide Victory for Khomeini Reported in Voting". The New York Times. 2 April 1979. Retrieved 25 January 2017.
  16. ↑ "Referenda", The Iran Social Science Data Portal, Princeton University, retrieved 10 August 2016
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