The Political Fish

The Detroit Free Press reported today that over 500 Iranians voted absentee in the recent elections. I am certainly not passing this off as representative of the election results in Iran, however it was an interesting statistic. Voters apparently overwhelmingly supported the reform candidates with Mousavi taking 78% of the vote, Karoubi taking 20% of the vote and Ahmadinejad only receiving 2%.

Out of 538 votes cast at a polling place in a Novi hotel, 78% chose Mousavi, whose supporters have sparked massive protest rallies this week in Iran because of concerns about voter fraud in an election that Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad claims he won.

Of the remaining voters who cast ballots in Michigan, 20% supported another opposition leader, Mehdi Karroubi, and 2% supported Ahmadinejad, according to Ali Moiin, an Iranian-American from Grosse Pointe Park.

These results were obtained from the Interests section of the Islamic Republic of Iran here in Michigan, which serves as a proxy embassy since the US and Iran have had no formal diplomatic relations for decades. While these results are not necessarily indicative of the REAL election results in Iran, it is a testament to the Iranian desire for reform and freedom. Southeast Michigan has a large Arabic community.

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