Referendum on the form of government for Iran in March 1979

"Yes" ballot

"No" ballot

Ruhollah Khomeini

The referendum on the form of government of Iran in March 1979 was called by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini and was intended to give the Iranian people the opportunity to vote “yes” or “no” for the adoption of an Islamic Republic . On March 30 and 31, 1979, a vote could be taken. The ballot papers for the non-secret ballot were different in color: for the Islamic Republic - green, against the Islamic Republic - red. Khomeini paraphrased the referendum with the words:

"Do you want the Islamic Republic or the Shah system?"

- Ruhollah Khomeini.

Result and consequences

According to official figures, 98.57% of all voters or 99.31% of those who cast a valid vote voted for the Islamic Republic in the referendum:

	be right	%
Yes	20,147,855	98.57
No	140.996	0.69
invalid	151.257	0.74
total	20.440.108	100%

Ruhollah Khomeini then proclaimed the Islamic Republic the next day. The German Counselor Gert Strenziok reported on April 2, 1979:

"On 1.4. At noon, one day after the referendum and before the votes were counted, Khomeini proclaimed the 'Islamic Republic' from his residence in Qom. The Ministry of the Interior announced today the provisional election result: 18 million eligible voters, 98 percent voter participation, 97 percent of which were yes-votes. All three numbers are definitely wrong. "

The Iranian doctor Mohammed Maleki criticized the election as a big lie and a fake. At the last census, 18,798,200 Iranians are said to have been over 16 years of age and therefore eligible to vote. With a turnout of 60–65%, a maximum of 12 million votes would have been recorded. He backed this up with a statement from the Interior Ministry that 15 million Iranians under the age of 16 and 4 million Iranians live in the highlands and cannot vote. With a population of 33 million, that would only be 12 million votes.

Khomeini had the election result of 98.2% included in Article 1 of the later drafted constitution, along with his name.

See also

• Political Development of Iran
• Constitutional referendum in Iran in December 1979
• Constitutional referendum in Iran in 1989

Remarks

1. ↑ 98% was the stated turnout of the 20,857,391 voters, the approval was higher.

Individual evidence

1. ^ Wahied Wahdat-Hagh : The Islamic Republic of Iran. Berlin 2003, ISBN 3-8258-6781-1 , p. 248
2. ↑ Source: Ministry of the Interior
3. ↑ Michael Ploetz, Tim Szatkowski: Files on the Foreign Policy of the Federal Republic of Germany 1979 Vol. I: January to June 30, 1979. R. Oldenbourg Verlag, Munich 2010, p. 464.
4. ↑ akhbar-rooz.com November 27, 2011, (in farsi)
5. ↑ iranchamber.com constitution