Tomorrow, the devoted Iranian people will go to the polls to elect the eighth president of the Islamic Republic. The people, who made great sacrifices under the leadership of late Imam Khomeini to topple the tyrannical pro-Western Pahlavi regime and establish a democratic Islamic system instead, have always shown a massive turnout in all post-revolution elections in order to elect their favorite candidates for the top government positions.

Considering the election fervor in the past few days, it is expected that the high turnout at the polls tomorrow will set a record in the history of the Islamic Revolution, especially given the fact that some 42 million Iranians are eligible to vote.

Unfortunately, some candidates during their election campaign did not conform to the standards of the Islamic system, as was expected from them by the people. For instance, a couple of candidates spread false rumors in society in order to draw public sympathy for their cause. And some others indulged in extravagant publicity, wasting lots of money on colorful posters and glossy-paper brochures.

It was very unfortunate that the supporters of a certain candidate handed out his posters and publicity brochures at almost every major intersection in the capital, although this candidate was already very well known to the people.

It is true that some individuals and political groups supporting this candidate provided most of the funds for his publicity campaign, but he should have discouraged them from spending so much money on his publicity for two reasons.

First of all, under an Islamic system, the people usually value the personal worth of a candidate. Therefore, as soon as the list of eligible candidates is released, the people begin to study the life and background of candidates and vote for the one whom they consider the most conforming to Islamic values and the most qualified for the office. Surely, extravagant publicity runs counter to the standards of the Islamic system, as it is a phenomenon imported from the West.

Secondly, those individuals or political circles contributing funds to the publicity campaign of this candidate will expect a return on their investment once he takes office. In other words, they will expect certain favors and advantages from him and will try to influence his policies.

The lack of debates among the candidates was also a weak point of the election campaign. The fact is that all the candidates made lots of promises to the public. Therefore, debates could have put the feasibility of those promises to the test, thus helping the public to vote for the candidate with the best and most workable plans for the future.

Such minor weak points, which will surely be removed in the next elections, do not count much in the face of many positive points prevalent in the democratic system of the Islamic Republic, especially compared with the political vigilance and maturity of the Iranian people.

Thus, regardless of these oversights or any unwanted developments in the past few days, the Iranian people across the country will massively go to the polls tomorrow to vote for the next president of the Islamic Republic and open a more brilliant chapter in the history of their country.