(Bloomberg) -- A third of eligible Iranians have no intention of voting in the country's June 18 presidential election, according to one poll, suggesting a record low turnout.
About 32% of 5,159 people surveyed by the semi-official Iranian Students Polling Agency between May 30 and June 1 said they won't vote “under any circumstances,” compared to 34% who said they'd definitely take part.
The election, which will end the two-term rule of President Hassan Rouhani, a cleric who supports ties with the West and greater openness at home, has been hit by boycott calls after a top constitutional body disqualified scores of prospective candidates -- including high-profile reformist and conservative politicians.
Iran's Khamenei Backs Hardline Election Field After Backlash
The field is dominated by religious hardliners who broadly oppose engagement with the U.S. and Europe, and are highly critical of the 2015 nuclear deal that Rouhani secured and which later all but collapsed after then-President Donald Trump withdrew the U.S.
The frontrunner is the current head of the judiciary, Ebrahim Raisi, who finished a distant second to Rouhani in 2017.
The lowest turnout recorded in Iran since it established a presidential system after the 1979 revolution was 50.7% in 1993.
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