1979 Iranian Islamic Republic referendum

Islamic Republic referendum

* * *

|  | 30—31 March 1979[1] / 10—11 Farvardin 1358 SH |

|
|

In the Name of God
Interim Government of the Islamic Revolution
Ministry of Interior
Referendum Election Ballot
Change of previous regime into Islamic Republic
the constitution of which to be approved by the nation.[2]

The two-parts ballot of referendum, with the green paper indicating "Yes" and red paper indicating "No"[2]

Results

Choice

| Votes  | %

|
|

Yes | 20,147,855 | 99.31%
No | 140,996  | 0.69%
Total votes | 20,288,851 | 100.00%
Registered voters/turnout | ~22,000,000[1] | 89[3]%
|  |

This article is part of
a series about

Ruhollah Khomeini

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Personal

* Family
* Death and state funeral
* Books
* Islamic Government
* Tahrir al-Wasilah
* Kashf al-Asrar
* Forty Hadith
* Islam and Revolution
* The Greatest Jihad

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Iranian revolution

* Life in exile
* 1963 demonstrations
* Engagement with Jimmy Carter
* Return to Iran

* * *

1st Supreme Leader of Iran

* 1979 Islamic Republic referendum
* Interim Government of Iran (1979)
* Hostage crisis
* Iran–Iraq War
* Satanic Verses controversy

* * *

Legacy

* Khomeinism
* Execution of Imam Khomeini's Order
* Fajr decade
* Homafaran Allegiance
* Imam Khomeini International Airport

* v
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A referendum on creating an Islamic Republic was held in Iran on 30 and 31 March 1979. Political parties such as the National Democratic Front and the Organization of Iranian People's Fedai Guerrillas boycotted the referendum.

The People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran, the Tudeh Party of Iran, the Freedom Movement of Iran, the National Front, and the Islamic People's Republican Party, also "objected to the imposition of Khomeini's choice".[4] According to official results, it was approved by 98.2% of eligible citizens.[3][5] However, votes were color-coded and voting booths were lacking, explaining the unusually high approval rate.[6]

In order to include the Iranian youth who participated in the revolution, the voting age was lowered from 18 to 16.[3]

Following this, the 1906 constitution was declared invalid and a new constitution for an Islamic state was created and ratified by another referendum in December 1979.

## Party policies

[edit]

Position  | Organizations  | Ref

|
|

Yes

Islamic Republican Party | [4]
National Front | [4][7]
Freedom Movement | [4][7]
Tudeh Party | [4][7]
People's Mojahedin Organization | [4]
Muslim People's Republic Party | [4]
Toilers Party | [8]
Iran Party | [citation needed]
Pan-Iranist Party | [9]
Nation Party | [9]

Boycott

| National Democratic Front | [4]
Organization of People's Fedai Guerrillas | [10]
People's Fedai Guerrillas | [11]
Peykar | [9]
Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan | [12]
Komala Party of Iranian Kurdistan | [12]

## Voting

[edit]

Woman casting her vote

Voters were given a three-part ballot, two of which containing the following statement:

بسمه تعالی
دولت موقّت انقلاب اسلامی
وزارت کشور
تعرفهٔ انتخابات رفراندم
تغییر رژیم سابق به جمهوری اسلامی
که قانون اساسی آن از تصویب ملّت خواهد گذشت.

In the Name of God
Interim Government of the Islamic Revolution
Ministry of Interior
Referendum Election Ballot
Change of previous regime into Islamic Republic
the constitution of which to be approved by the nation.

|

The Interim Government of Iran invited a four-man delegation of international jurists from International Association of Democratic Lawyers to monitor the voting.[13] According to The Washington Post, polling places lacked voting booths and the color-coded ballots could clearly be seen by observers, quoting head of the delegation "this is not the way we do things in the West, and it does not meet our criteria of democracy".[14] Sadegh Zibakalam describes the referendum as "free and fair".[15] Michael Axworthy states "there may have been some irregularities in the referendum, but most balanced observers then and since have accepted that whatever the conditions, a referendum at that time with that question would always have given a massive majority for the same result", that is the end of the monarchy.[16]

A huge voter turnout was reported nationwide, except for Turkmen Sahra and Iranian Kurdistan, where the referendum was not held in full due to ongoing armed conflicts.[17]

## Results

[edit]

Choice  | Votes  | %

|
|

For | 20,147,855 | 99.3
Against | 140,996 | 0.7
Valid Votes | 20,288,851 | 100
Source: Nohlen et al[1]
Choice  | Votes

|

Number of Eligible Voters | 20,857,391
Number of Actual Voters | 20,440,108
Voter Turnout | 98%
Source: Iran Social Science Data Portal[18]

### Results by province

[edit]

Province  | Votes  | Proportion of votes

|
|

Yes  | No  | Yes  | No
East Azerbaijan province | 2,001,628 | 5,354  | 99.73%  | 0.27%
West Azerbaijan province | 640,323 | 5,547  | 99.14%  | 0.86%
Isfahan province | 1,357,605 | 4,470  | 99.67%  | 0.33%
Ilam province | 161,942 | 16  | 99.99%  | 0.01%
Bakhtaran Province | 612,830 | 6,159  | 99.00%  | 1.00%
Bushehr province | 200,023 | 333  | 99.83%  | 0.17%
Tehran province | 3,462,449 | 72,980  | 97.94%  | 2.06%
Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari province | 210,936 | 885  | 99.58%  | 0.42%
Khorasan Province | 1,983,458 | 6,712  | 99.66%  | 0.34%
Khuzestan province | 1,248,591 | 8,557  | 99.32%  | 0.68%
Zanjan province | 765,786 | 875  | 99.89%  | 0.11%
Semnan province | 185,674 | 424  | 99.77%  | 0.23%
Sistan and Baluchestan province | 314,319 | 1,052  | 99.67%  | 0.33%
Fars province | 1,224,821 | 5,281  | 99.57%  | 0.43%
Kordestan Province | 318,360 | 2,570  | 99.20%  | 0.80%
Kerman province | 651,011 | 1,507  | 99.77%  | 0.23%
Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad province | 159,463 | 254  | 99.84%  | 0.16%
Gilan province | 810,708 | 7,539  | 99.08%  | 0.92%
Lorestan province | 643,216 | 821  | 99.87%  | 0.13%
Mazandaran province | 1,205,501 | 3,871  | 99.68%  | 0.32%
Markazi province | 771,189 | 1,052  | 99.86%  | 0.14%
Hormozgan province | 252,791 | 3,842  | 98.50%  | 1.50%
Hamedan Province | 744,636 | 1,023  | 99.86%  | 0.14%
Yazd province | 241,024 | 187  | 99.92%  | 0.08%
Abroad | 118,069 | 12,444  | 90.47%  | 9.53%
Total  | 20,286,353 | 153,755  | 99.25%  | 0.75%
Source: Ministry of Interior[permanent dead link]

## See also

[edit]

* Iranian Islamic Republic Day
* 1979 Iranian constitutional referendum

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b c Nohlen, Dieter; Grotz, Florian; Hartmann, Christof (2001). "Iran". Elections in Asia: A Data Handbook. Vol. I. Oxford University Press. p. 68\. ISBN 0-19-924958-X.
2. ^ a b Hovsepian-Bearce, Yvette (2015). The Political Ideology of Ayatollah Khamenei: Out of the Mouth of the Supreme Leader of Iran. Routledge. p. 13\. ISBN 978-1317605829.
3. ^ a b c Hiro, Dilip (2013). Holy Wars (Routledge Revivals): The Rise of Islamic Fundamentalism. Routledge. p. 169\. ISBN 978-1135048310.
4. ^ a b c d e f g h Paydar, Parvin (1995). Women and the Political Process in Twentieth-Century Iran. Cambridge University Press. p. 226\. ISBN 978-0-521-59572-8.
5. ^ Chehabi, Houchang Esfandiar (1986). Modernist Shi'ism and Politics: The Liberation Movement of Iran (PhD Dissertation). Vol. I/II. Yale University. p. 499\. ASIN B0007CAVDC.
6. ^ Ronald Koven (2 April 1979). "Khomeini Decrees Islamic Republic After Vote in Iran". The Washington Post. Retrieved 25 January 2017.
7. ^ a b c Baktiari, Bahman (1996). Parliamentary Politics in Revolutionary Iran: The Institutionalization of Factional Politics. University Press of Florida. p. 55\. ISBN 978-0-8130-1461-6.
8. ^ Haddad Adel, Gholamali; Elmi, Mohammad Jafar; Taromi-Rad, Hassan. Political Parties: Selected Entries from Encyclopaedia of the World of Islam. EWI Press. pp. 209–215\. ISBN 9781908433022.
9. ^ a b c "بررسی فرایند برگزاری همه‌پرسی نظام جمهوری اسلامی در فروردین 1358". historydocuments.
10. ^ Hiro, Dilip (2013). Iran Under the Ayatollahs (Routledge Revivals). Routledge. p. 128\. ISBN 978-1135043810.
11. ^ Maziar, Behrooz (2000). Rebels with a Cause: The Failure of the Left in Iran. I.B.Tauris. p. 109\. ISBN 1860646301.
12. ^ a b Romano, David (2006). The Kurdish Nationalist Movement: Opportunity, Mobilization and Identity. Cambridge Middle East studies, 22. Cambridge University Press. p. 236. ISBN 978-0-521-85041-4. OCLC 61425259.
13. ^ Albala, Nuri; Dossou, Robert; Dreyfus, Nicole; Youssoufi, Abderahmane (May 1979), Commission internationale d'enquete en Iran sur la preparation et le deroulement du referendum des 30 et 31 mars, la situation actuelle des droits de Phomme et la mise en place des nouvelles institutions, les crimes du regime Pahlavi (in French), Association Internationale des Juristes Démocrates
14. ^ Ronald Koven (2 April 1979). "Khomeini Decrees Islamic Republic After Vote in Iran". The Washington Post. Retrieved 25 January 2017.
15. ^ Sadegh Zibakalam (2014). "To Rule or Not to Rule? An Alternative Look at the Political Life of Ayatollah Khomeini between 1960 and 1980". In Arshin Adib-Moghaddam (ed.). A Critical Introduction to Khomeini. Cambridge University Press. p. 272\. ISBN 978-1-107-72906-3.
16. ^ Axworthy, Michael (2013), Revolutionary Iran: A History of the Islamic Republic, Oxford University Press, pp. 373–374
17. ^ "Landslide Victory for Khomeini Reported in Voting". The New York Times. 2 April 1979. Retrieved 25 January 2017.
18. ^ "Referenda", The Iran Social Science Data Portal, Princeton University, retrieved 10 August 2016

## External links

[edit]

* "Sadeq Tabatabaei shows voters how to cast their ballot in Islamic Republic referendum" (YouTube Video)

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Elections and referendums in Iran

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List of elections and referendums

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Ruhollah Khomeini

Politics|

* 1963 demonstrations in Iran
* Life in exile
* 1978 Qom protest
* 1978 Tabriz protests
* Neauphle-le-Château
* Return to Iran
* Iranian revolution
* Aftermath of the Iranian revolution
* Cultural Revolution
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* Council of the Islamic Revolution
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* Interim Government
* 1979 Referendum
* Engagement with Jimmy Carter
* Iranian revolution conspiracy theory
* America can't do a damn thing against us
* Supreme Leader of Iran
* Iran–Iraq War
* Israeli support
* Satanic Verses controversy

Positions|

* American Islam
* Anti-Zionism
* Shiite clericalism
* Death to America
* Great Satan
* Little Satan
* Sex segregation
* compulsory hijab
* Islamic democracy
* Imam's Line
* Letter to Gorbachev
* Khomeini's 8-article command

Books|

* Islamic Government: Governance of the Jurist (Velayat-e faqih)
* Tahrir al-Wasilah
* Kashf al-Asrar
* Forty Hadith of Ruhullah Khomeini
* Islam and Revolution
* The Greatest Jihad

Family|

* Khadijeh Saqafi (wife)
* Mostafa Khomeini (son)
* Zahra Mostafavi Khomeini (daughter)
* Farideh Mostafavi Khomeini (daughter)
* Ahmad Khomeini (son)
* Hussein Khomeini (grandson)
* Hassan Khomeini (grandson)
* Zahra Eshraghi (granddaughter)
* Seyyed Ahmad Musavi Hindi (grandfather)

Related|

* Jamaran Hussainiya
* Mausoleum
* Death and state funeral
* Alef-Laam Khomeini
* Fajr decade
* Refah School
* Homafaran Allegiance
* Imam Khomeini International Airport
* Execution of Imam Khomeini's Order

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