High Turnout Aids Ahmadenijad's Challenger

Have the Iranian people given Mahmoud Ahmadinejad the boot? Unclear—it’s still too close to call—but the high turnout in Friday’s election is expected to aid his moderate challenger, Mir Hossein Mousavi. Turnout was, according to observers, the highest in almost three decades, and voting was extended by an hour to accommodate all the voters. Mousavi’s aides, meanwhile, were predicting that he would win more than half the vote according to polls and would therefore avoid the need for a runoff. Ahmadinejad’s adviser replied by saying, “This is a psychological war they launched to influence voting.” The results will not be released until tomorrow, but many of Mousavi’s supporters are saying the only way Ahmadinejad could hold on to power is by fixing the vote.