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State Approves Iranian Polling Booths; Reformists Cry Foul
Jun 16, 2005
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| STATE APPROVES IRANIAN POLLING BOOTHS; REFORMISTS CRY FOUL |
 | (Election 1384)
Iran is setting up 33 polling stations across the United States ahead of its June 17 presidential elections, The Media Line news agency has learned. Tehran is calling on eligible voters across the U.S. to take part in the poll in locations that include Boston, Seattle, Chicago, and San Diego. However, an American-based Iranian opposition group maintains the vote in the U.S. is illegal.
Since 1979 there have been no diplomatic relations between the U.S. and the Islamic Republic of Iran. Iranian officials working in the United Nations' offices in New York, and at Iran’s Interests Section in the Embassy of Pakistan in Washington DC – the only places in the U.S. where Iranian political activities can officially be conducted - are prohibited from traveling beyond a certain limited area, and that presents a problem on election day.
The law makes it clear that it may be legal for a U.S. citizen to participate in the Iranian election, however it is illegal for Iran to be running a vote on U.S. soil. “The right of political free speech in the United States is extremely broad so any citizen or resident of the United States can collect votes or petitions or surveys regarding politics, even politics in Iran, such as who should be the president of Iran,” said Alan Dunn, a partner in the Washington DC law firm Stewart and Stewart. “The government of Iran, however, has no right to establish voting booths or to collect political petitions from citizens and residents in the United States."
For his part, Dunn also insists the restriction includes the Iranian Interests Section in the United States.
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Iran's eight presidential candidates (ISNA)
However, the State Department insists the ballot can go ahead. It is relying on a 1992 protective power arrangement, which effectively allows Pakistan to act on Iran’s behalf. As long as Pakistan rather than Iran is organizing the 33 polling stations, the vote can go ahead, said a spokesman at the State Department, Edgar Vasquez.
That is “a stretch” of the law, said Sean D. Murphy, a professor of international law at George Washington University. Murphy sees State’s position as “plausible” but argues that it is really operating in what he termed “wiggle room.”
Iranian law states that any ballot box has to be monitored by an official representative. It may therefore be a breach of Iranian law for Pakistani officials or their hired staff to be administering polling stations around the U.S. Of course, if official Iranian representatives supervise the voting, that would make it valid according to Iranian law, but illegal in the eyes of Washington.
The list of polling station locations was published on an official Iranian website, both in Persian and English. If you are an Iranian citizen living in Queens, New York, for example, you may have already been summoned to cast your vote at the Imam Ali Center, 55-11 Queens Boulevard, Woodside.
 | For a full list of polling stations, click here. (Election 1384)
The Media Line contacted one of the locations cited as a voting station: the Holiday Inn in Columbus, Ohio. “Let me check my calendar. Oh yes, the Iran Election Committee is holding that room,” said Lynn, from the sales department.
Asked for more details Lynn offered a contact name and phone number. “It starts at 3 p.m. and it ends at 8 p.m.,” she added. Similar responses were received from other locations around the country.
An opposition group with followers in and out of Iran, The Student Movement Coordination Committee for Democracy in Iran (SMCCDI), warned the FBI of Iran's intentions. In a letter to the FBI, obtained by The Media Line, the organization stated that during Iran's previous presidential election four years ago, such voting stations were set up in Los Angeles "in different hotels where Iranian representatives had reserved meeting rooms under false pretences. At that time Iranian opposition democratic groups in Los Angeles tracked down those venues and with the help of responsible officials at those locations and the Los Angeles Police Department were able to shut down all those illegal voting stations."
SMCCDI fears that Iran will exploit the family status of some of the Iranians living in the U.S., and try to force them to vote. According to the organization, some Iranian-Americans fear for the safety of their families still living in Iran; others are afraid they will be forbidden from traveling to Iran; and there are those who fear for their assets in their homeland. SMCCDI fears all of these people may be forced to vote in the Iranian elections against their will.
By Yaniv Berman and TML Staff on Thursday, June 16, 2005 | | |
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