2003 Iranian local elections

City and Village Councils elections
← 1999 28 February 2003 (2003-02-28) 2006 →
905 City and 34,205 Village Councils
Registered41,501,783[1]
Turnout49.96%[1]
Alliance Principlists Reformists

Iranian City and Village Councils elections, 2003 took place in February 2003, the second time local elections for city and village councils had taken place since being introduced in 1999, and 905 city and 34,205 village councils were up for election.[2]

By the elections, conservatives made a comeback and won the majority of the seats nationally as a harbinger of the 2004 parliamentary elections, where they won decisively.[2]

The elections demonstrated a voter apathy among the urban citizens,[3] as a result of public disappointment with reformists[2] and constant political infighting which led to the dissolution of the reformist-dominated City Council of Tehran.[4]

There were 20,235,898 votes cast in this election,[1] marking the lowest turnout in 24 years. In Tehran, only 12% of eligible voters participated. Turnout in Isfahan and Mashhad showed similar rates, 12% and 15% respectively.[5]

Disqualifications were minimal and below the 10%, to the extent that the banned Freedom Movement of Iran and Nationalist–Religious activists secured a few candidates as independents.[6]

  1. ^ a b c "2003 Municipal Councils Election", The Iran Social Science Data Portal, Princeton University, retrieved 10 August 2015
  2. ^ a b c Ehteshami, Anoushiravan; Zweiri, Mahjoob (2007), Iran and the Rise of Its Neoconservatives: The Politics of Tehran's Silent Revolution, I.B.Tauris, pp. 35–37, ISBN 978-0857713674
  3. ^ Mir-Hosseini, Ziba (2017), Jose Casanova; Jocelyne Cesari (eds.), Islam, Gender, and Democracy in Comparative Perspective, Oxford University Press, p. 224, ISBN 9780198788553
  4. ^ "Iran elections 'can heal wounds'". Reuters. 28 February 2003. Retrieved 11 June 2017 – via CNN.
  5. ^ Ray Takeyh (6 March 2003), "Iran's Municipal Elections: A Turning Point for the Reform Movement?", The Washington Institute, Policywatch, no. 721, retrieved 11 June 2017
  6. ^ Nigel Parsons (November 2010), "Electoral Politics in Iran: Rules of the Arena, Popular Participation, and the Limits of Elastic in the Islamic Republic" (PDF), Policy Brief (30), The Middle East Institute, retrieved 11 June 2017