Turnout was high for Syrian presidential elections on Tuesday, state television reported, with Bashar al-Assad expected to easily win a third seven-year term even as opposition groups decried the process.
The poll is the first to see Mr. Assad face rival candidates. But the two low-profile figures running against him are not expected to make any impact.
Mr. Assad cast his vote mid-morning in the upscale al-Maliki neighbourhood of Damascus where he lives, amid chants of “God bless Bashar” from voters, witnesses in the area told DPA .
He arrived at the polling station amid heavy security, along with his wife, Asma.
Challenger Hassan al-Nouri voted in the polling centre at the Damascus Sheraton Hotel, SANA news agency reported.
In the coastal city of Latakia turnout was high, according to Syrian television. “We came to vote without any pressure and to exercise our democratic rights,” one local told the broadcaster.
“Al-Assad is trying to show that he has won, but we tell him he is mistaken,” Abdel Basset Syda, a member of the coalition, told DPA by phone.
Condemnation also came from the West, with NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen describing the election as a “farce”.
