Over 58 percent of eligible voters have cast their ballots in the four predominately Kurdish provinces in Iran, despite Kurdish opposition groups’ joint call to boycott the votes in the run up to the polls in April, preliminary statistics from the election committees show. Iran held simultaneous elections for the post of the president and legislative seats in city councils across the country on Friday. Kermanshah province, a mainly Kurdish region with large Persian speaking populations had over 75 percent turnout, well above national average of around 73 percent.
The lowest turnout among Kurdish provinces was recorded in Kurdistan province (Sine) where 1,181 million were eligible to vote of which 58 percent cast their ballots, according to the provincial authorities.
Local media quoted Kurdistan Governor Abdulmohammad Zahedi as saying that 73% of the voters in his province voted for the reformist President Hassan Rouhani, way higher than the national average of 57%.
The voter turnout was around 70 percent in both provinces of Western Azarbaijan, where Kurdish and Turkish-speaking Azaris have long clashed over influence, and in Ilam province where around 341,000 were eligible to vote.
Full Article: High Kurdish turnout in Iran elections despite opposition boycot.