In its Iran presidential election update of 1:57 p.m. ET June 18, 2005, The Associated Press states that there has been 62.7 percent turnout. It further describes the turn-out as rejection of a youth-led boycott. It is expected of a news organization such as The Associated Press to stipulate that these numbers are according to the official tally and there has been no independent verification of the turn-out or vote counts of each candidate. This is important especially in face of allegations of widespread fraud, irregularities, and inconsistencies in official counts.

Sheema Kalbasi