The reported election results in Iran don’t add up

The British think tank, Chatham House, has issued a report examining the reported results of the recent election in Iran compared to previous elections. Their findings include:

• In two Conservative provinces, Mazandaran and Yazd, a turnout of more than 100% was recorded.

• At a provincial level, there is no correlation between the increased turnout, and the swing to Ahmadinejad. This challenges the notion that his victory was due to the massive participation of a previously silent Conservative majority.

• In a third of all provinces, the official results would require that Ahmadinejad took not only all former conservative voters, and all former centrist voters, and all new voters, but also up to 44% of former Reformist voters, despite a decade of conflict between these two groups.

• In 2005, as in 2001 and 1997, conservative candidates, and Ahmadinejad in particular, were markedly unpopular in rural areas. That the countryside always votes conservative is a myth. The claim that this year Ahmadinejad swept the board in more rural provinces
flies in the face of these trends.

In the video clip above of a demonstration in Tehran, today the translation of what they are yelling is "Have no fear, we are all together. Don't be afraid, don't be afraid, we are all together!" and then "Down with dictator".