Some Saw It Coming

A prescient piece by Kamal Nazer Yasin. Money quote:

CPV representatives point to several indicators of an Iranian neo-conservative plot to steal the election. For one, they note that over 59 million ballots have been printed, far more than the number of registered voters. They also have evidence that a substantial, though undetermined, number of soldiers has been ordered to hand over their national identity cards to officers. Most importantly, according to another CPV report, up to a third of voting booths in Iran will be protected by the Revolutionary Guards, and not the regular Law Enforcement Agency personnel.

To lend vote-rigging an air of religious legitimacy, a prominent hardline cleric has reportedly issued a fatwa, or religious edict, that would condone fraud in the name of supposedly defending the spirit of the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

Jeff Weintraub has more.

(Photo: Iranians shout slogans as they protest against the reelection of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad outside the interior ministry in Tehran on June 13, 2009. Ahmadinejad won a crushing victory in Iran's hotly-disputed presidential vote, according to official results that triggered mass opposition protests. Riot police were out in Tehran as thousands of supporters of his defeated rival Mir Hossein Mousavi took to the streets shouting 'Down with the Dictator' after final results showed Ahmadinejad winning almost 63 percent of the vote. By Atta Kenare/AFP/Getty.)