Ahmadinejad's Sister Loses Iran Election

From CNN:

More than 64 percent of eligible voters streamed to the polls in large numbers, and election officials praised the exercise, in which about 3,400 candidates vied for Majlis seats.

It’s first time Iranians are voting since allegations of rigging in the 2009 elections triggered mass street protests against President Ahmadinejad’s re-election.

Many observers say the underlying issue of the election is whether voters back the president, who has been in a rivalry with Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Parvin Ahmadinejad, A-jad’s sister, was among the losers.So ultra-conservtive vs. Ultra-ultra-conservtive. What’s the difference? Probably not much. It’s about and money (oil, pistachios, etc.)

The article continues:

Conservatives backing Khamenei or with links to him performed well in the race.

One candidate, Gholam Ali Haddad Adel, was overwhelmingly leading his race. His daughter is married to Khamenei’s son.

But one observer suggested the defeat of the president’s sister could be a sign of political fraud.

“In Iran, locals are usually fiercely loyal to high ranking representatives from their area, even if they are unpopular at national level,” said Meir Javedanfar, an Israeli-Iranian Middle East analyst.

“Although Ahmadinejad is not a popular politician, the very fact that his sister was defeated in Garmsar is a valid possible sign of fraud. This is likely to lead to even more infighting.”

Solat Mortazavi, the deputy Interior minister overseeing the elections, praised the polling.

“These have been the most lawful elections,” he said. “The elections were conducted in the best possible way.”

Mortazavi said it was the first time Iran successfully used computerized voting systems in some polling stations. Final results might be released in a matter of days. He said flooding delayed the retrieval of ballot boxes from remote communities.

Floods, computers… sounds like Chicago.