The second round of Iran's parliamentary elections is scheduled to be held on May 7, state media announced Monday, with the vote expected to add to an already overwhelming majority of conservatives in the new assembly.
In the first round of voting on February 20, a likely coalition of religious conservatives, hard-liners and centrists swept around 155 of the 289 seats up for grabs.
Reformists loyal to President Mohammad Khatami, who had held a crushing majority in the Majlis since 2000, were left with around 40 seats. That was hardly surprising given that most of their candidates were barred from standing by a powerful political vetting body run by conservatives.
Of the approximately 65 seats going to a second round - required when no single candidate wins more than 25 percent of votes cast - reformists can only contest around 17 of them, according to unofficial estimates.
The Guardians Council, the body that drew up the candidate blacklist and approves the dates on which elections can be held, did not specify the exact number of seats going into a second round.
Reports only said that in addition to the 60 seats where there was no clear winner on February 20, the results from several more constituencies had been invalidated by the body and would go up again on May 7.
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