Nonagenarian voter dies after casting ballot

TEHRAN,March 3(MNA) – A 95 year-old man died immediately after casting his vote in Iran’s 9th parliamentary election. Ali Jan-Akhgari, residing in Tehran’s suburban area of Damavand, passed away on Friday casting the last ballot of his life, Damavand’s Governor Ali Reza Ghasemi-Farzad said. He was praying in last moments of his life, asking God to accept the vote which he casted in favor of the Islamic government. Damavand is the capital of Damavand County, Tehran Province, with a population of 36,433, according to Iran’s official 2006 census. A parliamentary election was being held in Iran on Friday, 2 March 2012 to elect new members of Islamic Consultative Assembly, Majlis. Elections will be held for all 290 seats, representing the 31 provinces. Early reports indicated that the turnout was higher than the 2008 election, which many leading figures have said acts as a response to Iran’s enemies in light of the country’s nuclear stand-off with the West.