At stake in this election:

• The office of President of Iran

Description of government structure:

• Chief of State: Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Ali Hoseini- KHAMENEI *
• Head of Government: President Mahmud AHMADINEJAD
• Assembly: Iran has a unicameral Islamic Consultative Assembly (Majles-e-Shura-ye-Eslami) with 290 seats.

* The Leader of the Islamic Revolution is appointed for life by the Assembly of Experts.

Description of electoral system:

• The Leader of the Islamic Revolution is appointed.
• The President is elected by absolute majority vote through a two-round system to serve a 4-year term.
• In the Islamic Consultative Assembly (Majles-e-Shura-ye-Eslami) 290 members are elected by qualified plurality vote to serve 4-year terms.***

*** District magnitudes range from one to six. Five of 290 seats are reserved to recognized religious minorities. The electoral system is based on the multiple non-transferable vote (i.e. voters have as many votes to cast as there are seats to fill in the respective constituency). The victory threshold for a candidate is 25 percent, however. If no candidate exceeds 25 percent of votes in the first round, a second-round election is held. Two-way ties are broken by lot. There are no clear provisions for breaking ties among three or more candidates.

Main Candidates in the Presidential race:

• Mahmoud AHMADINEJAD
  • Alliance: Alliance of Builders of Islamic Iran
• Mir Hossein MOUSAVI
  • Independent(s): N/A
• Mehdi KARRUBI
  • Alliance: National Trust Party
• Moshen REZAI
  • Independent(s): N/A

Population and number of registered voters:

• Population: 73,370,982 (2009)
• Registered Voters: 46,200,000 (October 2009 - Estimated eligible voting population. Source: Mardomak.org.)

Gender Data:

·         Female Population: 36,200,675 (2009)

·         Is Iran a signatory to CEDAW: No

·         Has Iran ratified CEDAW: No

·         Gender Quota: No

·         Female candidates in this election: No

·         Number of Female Parliamentarians: 8 (following the 2008 elections)

·         Human Development Index Position: 69

·         Social Institutions and Gender Index (SIGI) Categorization: N/A

Disability Data:

·         Is Iran a signatory to CRPD: No

·         Has Iran ratified CRPD: Yes, accession (23 Occtober 2009)

·         Population with a disability: 11,005,647 (est.)