“Mr. Seyed Ebrahim Rayeesi, has gained more than 17 million and eight hundred thousand votes, Mr. Mohsen Rezayee garnered more than 3 million and three hundred thousand votes, Mr. Abdol Nasser Hemmati earned more than two million and four hundred thousand votes and Mr. Amir Hossein Qazizadeh Hashemi gained more than a million votes until this moment,” Iranian Deputy Interior Minister Jamal Orf said on Saturday.
He added that some 28.6 million votes have so far been counted that is around 90% of the votes cast in this election.
Orf said he was not offering precise figures because vote counting was still going on, adding that he was merely providing preliminary updates.
Iranians began voting in the early hours of Friday in a contest among 4 candidates in the 13th presidential elections and also for the 6th Islamic city and village council elections across the country.
State television showed people's presence at polling stations in several cities and towns, quoting officials that over 59 million Iranians out of the more than 85 million population are eligible to vote.
Polls closed in Iran’s 2021 presidential election after 19 hours of voting nationwide and in various foreign countries.
Voting stopped at 02:00 am local time on Saturday (June 19), 19 hours after they opened across the country at 07:00 am on Friday, June 18.
Any voters happening to still be inside polling stations and waiting to cast their vote were able to do so, however.
Polling was extended several times to accommodate incoming voters and to observe health protocols amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Vote counting has begun. And the Interior Ministry is expected to start announcing election results gradually as ballots are counted.