BEIJING, Feb. 20 (Xinhuanet) -- Iran holds parliamentary elections on Friday, in which 4,737 qualified candidates will run for the 290 seats of the seventh Majlis (parliament).

    The Guardian Council announced last Tuesday that 5,625 of the 8,144 registered candidate were qualified ones.

    But 888 qualified candidates, including 12 incumbent lawmakers,have announced their quit from race, leaving 4,737 candidates for the contests, the Iranian Interior Ministry said Wednesday.

    Following is a brief introduction of Iran's electoral system.

    Under the Iranian constitution, national affairs should be handled in accordance with citizens' will, which is expressed and reflected through elections or national referendum.

    Elections in Iran are conducted in a direct way, in which the electorate vote by the ballot. All Iranian citizens above 16 are eligible to cast votes.

    Iranian elections consist of the assembly of experts elections,presidential elections, Majlis (parliamentary) elections and regional parliamentary elections.

    The assembly of experts elections, designed to pick Iran's supreme leader, are called every eight years, while the presidential, parliamentary and regional elections are held every four years.

    Under the Iranian parliamentary electoral system, if no candidate gains at least 25 percent of the votes cast in the constituency, there is a runoff vote to decide the winner. Five seats are reserved for approved religious minorities of Christians,Jews and Zoroastrians.

    The Interior Ministry and the administrative offices down the line are in charge of all electoral affairs. The Constitution Supervisory Council (the Guardian Council of the Constitution) is the electoral supervisory body in the country.

    Iranian constitution and electoral law contain specific provisions concerning the election procedures and candidacy.

    First, eligible voters should register with the regional electoral committees before a deadline set up by the Interior Ministry.

    Then, the committees will submit the electoral lists to the regional candidacy censorship committees, which in turn will report the censorship results back to the electoral committees.

    According to the electoral law, disqualified candidates will receive a written note describing reasons for disqualification, and those deprived of qualification are entitled to appeal within a set period.

    During the voting process, the council dispatches supervisors to every regional polling booth to oversee the voting, the ballot seal and the counting.

    After approved by the council, the electoral committees will announce the results.

    Based on the concrete evidence, the Constitution Supervisory Council has the right to declare certain constituency or even all election results invalid.

    Only after confirmed by the council can an elected person be sworn in. Enditem