Firstly, most polls predicted a close outcome, with Ahmadinejad having a slight lead. (The big leads were reported in much earlier polls and the gap narrowed markedly as the election got closer). The increase in support for Ahmadinejad amongst rural and ethnic minority voters is out of step with previous trends, extremely large in scale and central to the question of why (or indeed whether) he really won on June 12.
Secondly Karroubi had commanded strong support in rural areas in 2005, yet his vote allegedly collapsed entirely this year, even in his home province of Lorestan where his share of the vote went from 55.5 percent in 2005 to just 4.6 percent in 2009.
Thirdly even the Guardians Council has now admitted massive irregularities in the count but have forbidden Iranians to protest about this. Some democracy. |
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