CNN reports on yet another analysis of the Iranian presidential election, this from Chatham House, a London-based institute that analyzes international affairs. The report makes four conclusions:
- In two conservative provinces, Mazandaran and Yazd, a turnout of more than 100 percent was recorded.
- At a provincial level, there is no correlation between the increased turnout and the swing to Ahmadinejad. This challenges the notion that his announced victory was due to the massive participation of a previously silent conservative majority.
- In a third of all provinces, the official results would require that Ahmadinejad had received not only all former conservative voters, all former centrist voters and all new voters but also up to 44 percent of former reformist voters -- despite a decade of conflict between these two groups.
- In the 2005 election, as in the elections of 2001 and 1997, conservative candidates -- and Ahmadinejad in particular -- were markedly unpopular in rural areas. That makes it "highly implausible" that the countryside swung substantially toward Ahmadinejad.
Speaking of the Mebane analysis, Thomas Lotze has provided a very readable summary and visualization of that analysis, along with R code and data.
Chatham House: Preliminary Analysis of the Voting Figures in Iran’s 2009 Presidential Election
Actually, there can be more than 100% voter turn out in some cities for the simple reason that in Iran, you’re not required to vote in your hometown.
Iran election fraud claims analyzed at IranAffairs.com
Posted by: hass | June 23, 2009 at 14:05