Polling Stations Planned in 7 UK Cities for Iran Presidential Election
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Iranian expatriates in Britain will have the chance to vote in the country’s presidential election, with polling stations planned to be set up in London and six other cities, Iran’s ambassador said.
Providing details of the presidential election that will be held in Britain simultaneous with Iran, Iranian Ambassador to London Hamid Baeedinejad said 11 polling stations in seven British cities will be open to the eligible voters on May 19.
A total of 12 ballot boxes will be stationed in 11 polling places in London, Manchester, Birmingham, New Castle, Glasgow, Leeds, and Cardiff, the envoy announced in a post at his page in a social network.
There will be six ballots boxes in five polling stations in London alone, including two boxes at the Iranian Embassy building, he noted.
Baeedinejad explained that the cities have been chosen in accordance with the distribution of the Iranian communities across Britain, saying Iranian expatriates residing elsewhere in Britain can also take a short trip to one of these cities to vote.
He also noted that Iran’s Embassy is getting help from all cultural centers in Britain involving Iranian people for holding the election, saying they include Islamic centers, training centers, and student unions.
Around 120 Iranian students, graduates, and educated people are going to assist in the voting process, Baeedinejad added.
He also said extraordinary measures have been taken to issue passports within 48 hours for those Iranians in Britain who have no valid passport for any reason, to allow them to take part in the polls.
The presidential election will be held on Friday.
During the previous polls in June 2013, President Hassan Rouhani garnered 50.7 percent of a total of over 36 million votes.
Authorities say the number of eligible voters in the elections stands at more than 56,400,000.