More than 12,000 polling stations have been opened across Syria to hold presidential elections, RIA Novosti reports. They will be open until 19:00, if necessary, the work will be extended by 5 hours. Journalists from all over the world and invited observers from different countries can observe the elections throughout the day.
In addition to Bashar al-Assad, who is also the secretary general of the Ba’ath party, Arab Organization for Human Rights head Mahmoud Ahmed Merei and former state minister for People's Assembly Affairs Abdullah Sallum Abdullah are also running for the presidency.
Representatives of the foreign opposition outside Syria have previously stated that they will not run in the presidential election.
The head of the US delegation from Minneapolis, White Miller, said that the presence of international observers in the presidential election in Syria is necessary to get a real picture of the election and to fight against information distortion.