ELECTION EVE

Campaigning for the parliamentary election comes to a close on Thursday morning and the Iranian people are set to go to the polls to elect their representatives in the 290-seat legislature on Friday. 
The two main political groupings, namely principlists and reformists, have fielded contenders, though the pro-reform camp has taken a hit due to the mass disqualification of its hopefuls by the electoral watchdog. 
The reformist policymaking council has not released an official list of candidates, but has invited people to vote in the election and support challengers who are running on individual reformist parties’ ticket. 
After a drawn-out infighting, two mainstream principlist groups managed to hammer out a single alliance, urging their popular base to vote for the entire 30-member list for the Tehran constituency.
Nevertheless, the conservative landscape remains dotted by a raft of other rival lists. 
According to the Interior Ministry, there are 54,611 voting centers in 208 constituencies across the country.
The ministry has made provisions in case of a high turnout by planning extra polling stations in populous areas to allow all voters to cast their ballot before midnight. 
According to the law, voting time cannot be extended past midnight. Previous elections have seen several time extensions due to high participation.
As always, inspectors from the Interior Ministry and the Guardians Council, as well as representatives from various parties will be present in voting centers to oversee the electoral process. 
Some 58 million Iranians are eligible to choose from among 7,000 candidates competing for 290 seats.
Guardians Council Spokesman Abbas Ali Kadkhodaei has predicted a 50% turnout in the poll. 
April 17 has been designated as the date for a possible runoff election.