Reasons for Voter Participation in the Eleventh Presidential Elections: Case Study of the Voters in the city of Khoy

There are limited empirical studies on the reasons for and causes of Iranian voter's participation in the elections, on the why and how of fluctuations in turnout, and on the impact of individual and social variables on voting behavior. The Eleventh Presidential Elections in Iran and the surprise victory of Mr. Rouhani prompted us to undertake a study to contribute to the existing research and to a better understanding of the voter's reasons and criteria for voting. Our main objective in this study was to understand voter's motivations and reasons for taking part in the elections and choosing to vote for a particular candidate. To achieve this, we conducted a series of semi-structured interviews in the city of Khoy. Having analyzed the data, we decided that we could offer a reasonable explanation for voter's behavior by expanding our rational choice model to incorporate essential insights from 'framing' theory. Our findings indicate that citizens of Khoy are in general apolitical, conservative and traditionally religious. They cast their votes on rational grounds, but their rational choices are made within 'frame's shaped by the particular circumstances and persuasion discourses of the election time.