With the approach of the twelfth round of parliamentary elections in Iran, there is a growing electronic buzz surrounding the possibility of conducting elections electronically, especially in the one-eighth of constituencies with multiple parliamentary seats. However, these efforts are not limited to the present day, and it has been 18 years since the first unconventional election was held in Iran.
According to IDEA, it was in early June of this year that the representatives of the Islamic Consultative Assembly approved the electronic conduct of the next parliamentary elections. This law obligates the Ministry of Interior to hold the twelfth parliamentary elections electronically in the one-eighth of constituencies with multiple seats, pending the approval of the Guardian Council. In this report, we delve into the history of electronic elections in Iran and assess the feasibility of such elections taking place in Iran in the coming March.
Electronic Elections in Iran
The first time the idea of electronic elections was introduced in Iran was during President Rafsanjani’s tenure. For the second round of the Reconstruction Government’s elections, even though the internet was not as widespread as it is today, it was decided to use fax machines for vote counting. Technical issues led to the failure of this method in those elections, and replacing the optical reading method for ballots resulted in such a high number of invalid votes that it was abandoned in subsequent rounds.
Efforts for electronic elections in Iran began during the presidency of Seyyed Mohammad Khatami. In 1998, the government succeeded in conducting electronic vote counting alongside traditional methods during the City Council elections. The manual and electronic vote counts did not significantly differ, making this experience one of the earliest successful ventures into electronic voting in Iran’s history.
The Reformist government, inspired by this successful experience, attempted to hold the sixth round of the Islamic Consultative Assembly elections electronically in 1999. However, despite the government’s coordination efforts, the Guardian Council, responsible for overseeing elections, withdrew its consent for electronic elections just two days before the voting.
Electronic elections were not limited to City Councils and the Islamic Consultative Assembly. In 2001, there were discussions about conducting presidential elections electronically for the first time. However, the Guardian Council remained opposed to this idea, primarily due to doubts about the functionality of the software provided for vote counting.
Efforts continued, but the Guardian Council remained resistant. In 2007, despite the Guardian Council’s reluctance, electronic voting was implemented for some stages of the eighth parliamentary elections in 13 cities. In 2009, only certain stages of the presidential elections were conducted electronically, and the software designed for it was not approved by the Guardian Council.
The First Successful Steps in the Field of Electronic Elections in Iran
The ninth parliamentary elections in 2010 marked a pioneering step in electronic developments in Iran’s electoral system as they utilized digital signatures. Electronic voting was implemented in 14 constituencies during this period, and in the second phase, seven electoral districts also hosted this new technology. In the eleventh presidential election, held three years later, the same 14 constituencies adopted electronic voting.
In February 2015, the Minister of Interior announced that the tenth parliamentary elections would be held electronically, a decision later approved by the government. The Ministry of Interior presented a report outlining a fully electronic voting process, including electronic voter registration. With the approval of the Guardian Council, a portion of the elections was conducted electronically.
However, none of these experiences matched the success of the fifth round of elections for Islamic City and Village Councils in 2017. In that year, the dream of electronic elections was realized to some extent in 139 cities across 28 provinces. According to data, 8,671,701 votes were electronically cast. This means that it took 18 years from the approval of electronic voting laws in Iran in 1999 for it to be fully implemented.
The Twelfth Parliamentary Elections
It was on the 7th of Ordibehesht (April) this year that members of parliament, during an open session, deliberated on amending certain provisions of the electoral law. As part of these amendments, parliamentarians proposed a bill in which, with the approval of the Guardian Council, the Ministry of Interior would conduct the twelfth parliamentary elections electronically in all or some of the voting branches. Shortly after, in early Khordad (June), this law was passed, obligating the Ministry of Interior to conduct elections electronically in one-eighth of the constituencies with multiple parliamentary seats if approved by the Guardian Council.
Mohsen Islami, the spokesperson for the country’s election headquarters, stated in a television interview on this matter: “The new electoral law has differences compared to the previous one, aiming to incorporate the policies of the Supreme Leader into its agenda.” He also mentioned “the digitization of the registration process” and “the conduct of fully electronic elections in one-eighth of the voting districts,” adding, “The Ministry of Interior has had an extensive infrastructure development plan since last year. Problems have been identified individually, and our situation is suitable considering the provisions related to electronic elections.”
He expressed the Ministry of Interior’s readiness to hold electronic elections, pending approval by the Guardian Council. The spokesperson for the Guardian Council also mentioned that currently, out of 25 existing election processes, 24 are conducted electronically, with only the remaining vote count being non-electronic. He stated that after reviewing the Ministry of Interior’s plan regarding this matter, the final decision of the Guardian Council will be announced.
Ensuring the Security of Electronic Voting Systems
One of the primary concerns raised by the Guardian Council in various elections has been the issue of ‘election security.’ While electronic elections come with significant advantages, they also raise concerns about the hacking of voting systems and the potential for fraud. The Guardian Council has indicated that, if these concerns are addressed and the technical aspects of the voting devices are approved, it will not oppose the conduct of electronic elections.
In recent years, since the idea of electronic elections was introduced, one of the main concerns of election organizers has been the creation of these devices. It was during the eleventh parliamentary elections when the head of the Information Technology Committee of the National Election Headquarters visited the assembly and commented on the final assembly and preparation process of the identity verification devices: “In this production line, equipment is in the final assembly stage, and information such as the operating system and necessary software, as well as the civil registration database, are installed offline. Quality control testing, battery charging, SIM card and memory card installation, installation of the operating system, and related software are among the activities carried out at this stage. After installing the required software on each device, it undergoes final quality control testing and is sealed.”
Additionally, ISNA had previously reported that all the designs of the devices used in recent years were developed domestically, and the encryption systems, software, and even the operating systems were specific to these devices.
Furthermore, based on recent announcements, these devices have an independent network separate from the internet, ensuring they remain unaffected by internet-related issues. In the event of potential disruptions in the country’s internet, this network is designed to remain unaffected.
These measures are intended to mitigate the Guardian Council’s primary concern about the vulnerability of the voting devices. However, past experiences have shown that the Guardian Council can change its decision at any moment and may withdraw its approval for electronic elections, potentially depriving these elections of the opportunity to take place.
Will Electronic Elections Succeed in Iran?
As experience in many countries shows, conducting electronic elections is not impossible. Nowadays, in many countries, voters are identified using various hardware devices and can participate in voting. Even in more recent methods of online identity verification, there is no need for the physical presence of the voter at the polling location.
In Iran, in recent years, online identity verification systems have expanded in various sectors of government and private organizations. For example, the infrastructures used in various banking software for identity verification are successful examples that, with technical advancements and ensuring their security, can serve as a model for electronic elections. Moreover, by analyzing the strengths and weaknesses of the devices used in previous electronic elections in Iran, improvements can be made and employed in the upcoming parliamentary elections. If the Ministry of Interior can assess such capacities and plan appropriately for the elections, it can secure the approval of the Guardian Council. It is not unlikely that, after years of traditional elections, the parliamentary elections for the Twelfth Parliament in Iran may turn into an example of electronic elections. However, so far, the Guardian Council has not shown a favorable disposition toward conducting all stages of the elections electronically.
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