Iran Elections Official Cries Foul

Tucked near the very bottom of a dispatch from Iran written by New York Times’ executive editor Bill Keller, an anonymous Interior Ministry employee claims the presidential elections were rigged. He said the government had purged his office, which counts the votes, of anyone who might raise a fuss a few weeks before the elections. “They didn’t rig the vote,” said the man. “They didn’t even look at the vote. They just wrote the name and put the number in front of it.” Keller adds after the official’s quote that the Iranian government has “little patience” for anyone questioning the election’s fairness. Tehran has exploded in protests since the election results were announced. Protestors cry election fraud at Ahmadinejad’s surprise victory, but no definitive proof has surfaced either way.