Second round of Iran elections set for April

Iranian state media says the country will hold a second round of voting on April 29 to fill 69 parliamentary seats for which no clear winner emerged during last month’s elections.

The run-off is necessary because under Iran’s election rules a member of parliament must win 25 percent of votes cast, but this only happened for 221 of the country’s 290 seats.

The first round on February 26 saw allies of Iran’s moderate President Hassan Rouhani make major gains against conservatives.

Iranians stand in line at a polling station during the parliamentary and Experts Assembly elections in Qom, 125 kilometers (78 miles) south of the capital Tehran, Iran, Friday, February 26, 2016. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)

But neither group won a majority, meaning the outcome of the second round — which will involve only the top two contenders from the first vote for each seat left empty — could affect the balance of power in the legislature.

Conservatives won 103 seats last month while the pro-Rouhani coalition of moderates and reformists, dubbed the “List of Hope”, won 95, with other seats going to independents and minorities.

— AFP