Role of Military and Security Organizations on Election Monitoring Boards

Overview of Military Role in Elections

• Basiji can be members of the Election Monitoring Boards
• IRGC & 3 other orgs vet and surveil potential candidates and activists
• The Guardian Council has final say on who can run in presidential and parliamentary elections
• Parliament has the final say on who can run in local elections
• Military, IRGC, Intelligence secure elections

Despite the prohibition of military presence in election monitoring mandated by the Statutes of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), the Armed Forces Penal Code, and the Election Code,  these forces play an informal role on Election Monitoring Boards.

For the most part, it is Iran’s Basij[1] militia[2] that plays the largest role in election monitoring. In 2005, when Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was first elected president, Iran’s reformists accused the Basij of meddling in elections.  By 2010, their role was official when the Ahmadinejad administration passed the Comprehensive Election Bill. The bill permits Election Monitoring Boards to include unarmed Basij forces on their boards.

Currently, election security is in the hands of the IRI’s military and security forces. Vetting and surveillance of potential candidates and activists are primarily done under the auspices of the IRGC.

Impartiality is mandated of all institutions.

Read the complete report: The Guardian Council Expands Power  (pdf)

[1] The Basij is a paramilitary organization under the wing of the IRGC.

[2] کوروشی, جواد “نقش سپاه و بسیج در انتخابات؛ بزرگ‌نمایی یا واقعیت؟.” رادیو فردا. رادیو فردا, June 9, 2009. https://www.radiofarda.com/a/f10_Basij_RevolutionaryGuard_Election/1749432.html.