Voting ends in Iran's 14th presidential election

TEHRAN  -- Voting for Iran's 14th presidential election ended at midnight after 16 straight hours, said Spokesman of Iran's Election Headquarters Mohsen Eslami.

He made the remarks in a live interview with Iran's state-run IRIB TV, noting that though the polling stations' doors were closed, those people who had come before the end of the voting process and were waiting for their turns, could still cast their ballots.

The voting began at 8:00 a.m. Friday local time (0430 GMT) at about 58,640 polling stations across the country, with four candidates vying for the top position at the country's executive branch.

The candidates were Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, the parliamentary speaker; Saeed Jalili, the former top negotiator for nuclear talks; Mostafa Pourmohammadi, a former interior minister and justice minister; and Masoud Pezeshkian, a former health minister.

Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei cast the first ballot at a polling station and made a brief speech calling for the unity of the Iranian people during the election.

The voting was initially scheduled to end at 6:00 p.m. local time, but was extended three times, with each extension lasting for two hours.

Over 61 million people were eligible to vote in the election, according to Iranian authorities.

A total of 344 polling stations were also set up in more than 95 foreign countries for Iranians to cast their votes, the official news agency IRNA reported.

Eslami said the counting process at the stations would begin upon making sure that the very last voter had cast his vote, adding the winner should collect an absolute majority of the votes, or at least 50 percent plus one vote, otherwise the run-off would be held next Friday between the two top candidates.

In remarks at a televised interview on Thursday, Mohammad-Taqi Shahcheraghi, head of Iran's Election Headquarters, said efforts would be made to announce the election's results before Saturday noon.

Iran's 14th presidential election, initially set for 2025, was rescheduled following the unexpected death of President Ebrahim Raisi and his entourage in a helicopter crash on May 19.