By Kathryn Maureen Ryan
Impunity Watch Managing Editor

DAMASCUS, Syria – Syrian Officials have reportedly begun counting votes cast in the country’s presidential elections. According to Syrian State media, polling stationed closed at Midnight on Tuesday. Thousands of Syrians turned out to vote at outside polling centers in government-controlled areas around the country on Tuesday. While many see the election as a re-coronation of the Assad regime, the government argues that the elections must be held to comply the nation’s constitution. While there were two other candidates on the ballot, marking the first time Syrians had the chance to vote for a Presidential candidate who was not a member of the Assad family in more than four decades. However, Assad is expected to win in a landslide.

“It’s a coronation of Assad, it’s a celebration of his ability to survive the violent storm and basically go on the offensive,” said Fawaz Gerges, a professor of international relations at the London School of Economics. This “coronation” is taking place amid a violent civil war that has raged on for more than 3 years, killing at least 150,000 people and displacing about 6.5 million.

Bashar al-Assad won the past two presidential elections in Syria, each electing him to a Seven year term as the nation’s head of state. During his first election he carried more than 99% of the vote, despite facing opponents on paper he is expected to receive similar numbers in this year’s election, despite the fact that Syrian voters have experienced three years of civil war that has turn their nation apart.

The vote may reflect the regimes confidence, or at least the confidence it wants the world to perceive, in the amount of control it has won over the past year by crushing rebel held areas. The election “reflects trends of the last year of the regime being more successful,” says Chris Phillips, lecturer at the University of London and former Syria editor at the Economist Intelligence Unit. “At the very beginning of this, Assad quite cleverly changed the rules of the game by making out that just surviving this war is winning it.”

Syrian officials have claimed a large turnout for the elections. Assad is expected to claim another overwhelming victory despite facing two challengers. Syrian state media showed video of long lines of people waiting to cast their ballots outside of government controlled polling stations in regions of the state controlled by regime forces. While state media showed images of Syrians voting in relatively quite government held areas fighting was reported in Aleppo as well as Damascus Suburbs.

The election is largely seen as a farce by the international community and opponents of the Assad regime who see the election as an attempt by a brutal dictator and war criminal responsible for mass atrocities to legitimize his leadership. In some rebel held areas opposition groups held a mock election. Amateur video shows rebels voting for the removal of Assad, using their shoes as ballots.

In the rebel-held central town of Rastan, which has been under attack by government forces for more than two years, an anti-regime activist who goes by the name of Murhaf al-Zoubi said all the locals in the area “want Assad to go.” He said, “there are no elections here, this is a free, liberated area.”

For more information please see:

Al Jazeera – Syrian Election Vote Counting Begins – 4 June 2014

Euro News – Syria claims large turnout in presidential election set to bolster Assad regime – 4 June 2014

Syria Deeply – Election Shows Off Assad’s Confidence, Cements His Position in Power – 3 June 2014

National Public Radio – What Syria’s President Seeks From A Not-So-Democratic Election – 2 June 2014