Republican ballot-counting

Islamic Republican ballot-counting, tee-hee. Put a cleric in charge and fudge the vote-count so much that it looks like a mandate from god.

This is how it's done:

The authorities closed universities in Tehran, blocked cellphone transmissions and access to Facebook and some other Web sites, and for a second day shut down text-messaging services.

And, of course, this shows Khamenei was in on it from the beginning:

Ayatollah Khamenei closed the door to any appeals for intervention in a statement issued on state television on Saturday afternoon, congratulating Mr. Ahmadinejad on his victory and urging the other candidates to throw in the towel. “Our respected president is the president of all the people, including those who were his rivals yesterday, and they should all help and support him,” he said.