Of course, a recount is inconsequential if the investigation doesn’t address how the ballots got there. The “travelers” explanation below rings profoundly hollow. “Iran’s election authority: Partial recount shows election valid,” from CNN, June 29:
TEHRAN, Iran (CNN) — Saying it had completed an investigation into alleged voter irregularities, Iran’s election authority on Monday stood by its findings that gave hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad an overwhelming victory and sparked more than two weeks of chaos in the streets.
There was “no tangible irregularity,” Guardian Council spokesman Abbas Ali Kadkhodaei told government-run Press TV after reporting that a recount of some 10 percent of the votes found no significant differences. “After this, the file will be closed and from today on in the presidential election, the file has been closed.”
In an hour-long interview addressing a series of complaints, Kadkhodaei noted that some 40,000 representatives of the various candidates observed the ballot boxes to ensure that rules were followed. Given there were 46,000 ballot boxes, that meant 6,000 were unattended. Even so, allegations of wrongdoing were investigated thoroughly, he said.
Kadkhodaei acknowledged that some ballot boxes may have contained more ballots than the number of voters in a given area, but said that did not necessarily mean there were irregularities. Voters were not restricted to polling places in their home town, so the extra votes could have come from travelers, he said….
And under a regime with no transparency and accountability to the people, that’s that: Nothing to see here.