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 Mahmoud AHMANDINEJAD **
• 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.

** All Presidential candidates must be vetted and approved by the Guardian Council in order to campaign in the election.

Description of electoral system:

• The Leader of the Islamic Revolution is appointed.
• 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:

• Mohammad-Bagher GHALIBEF
  • Party: Islamic Society of Engineers (ISE) / Jām'at-e eslāmī-ye mohandisīn
• Mohammad GHARAZI
  • Independent(s): Independent
• Saeed JALILI
  • Party: Front of Islamic Revolution Stability (FSP) / Jebhey-e pāydāri-ye enqelāb-e eslāmi
• Moshen REZAEE
  • Party: Moderation and Development Party (MDP) / Hizb-i Ettedal va Toseh
• Hassan ROUHANI
  • Party: Association of Combatant Clerics (ACC) / Majma'-e rowhāniyūn-e mobārez
• Ali Akbar VELAYATI
  • Party: Islamic Coalition Party (ICP) / Hezb-e mo'talafeh-e eslāmī

Population and number of registered voters:

• Population: 77,152,445 (2013)
• Registered Voters: 50,483,192 (June 2013)

Gender Data:

·         Female Population: 38,265,516 (2013)

·         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: 9 (following the 2009 elections)

·         Human Development Index Position: 69 (2014)

·         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: 11,572,866 (est.)