Syrian Arab News Agency S A N A
Damascus, SANA – The People’s Assembly elections for selecting 250 members from over 3,500 candidates from across all Syrian provinces began at 7 AM on Wednesday April 13th, with voters beginning to arrive at the voting centers early in the morning.
Voting centers, which number over 7,300, opened their doors to voters at 7 AM and were initially due to remain open until 7 PM.
Later on the day, the Higher Judicial Committee for Elections announced the decision to extend vote-casting for five hours until 12:00 midnight at all polling centers due to massive turnout.
In a statement to SANA, head of Higher Judicial Committee for Elections, Judge Hisham al-Shaar, said that elections are proceeding well, with no complaints or problems registered so far.
Al-Shaar said that the voters’ turnout is good, and that the Committee is staying in touch with subcommittees in provinces and elections committees.
SANA’s correspondents in the provinces confirmed that voting centers are witnessing strong and increasing turnout.
The voting centers include over 2,000 centers in Damascus, 17 in Deir Ezzor, 1,047 in Lattakia, 661 in Homs, 347 in Sweida, 741 in Hama, 368 in Hasaka, 816 in Tartous, and 347 in Sweida are receiving voters.
It should be noted that voting centers were opened in Damascus, Damascus Countryside, Hama, Lattakia, Aleppo, Tartous, Hasaka, and Deir Ezzor to receive voters staying in these provinces who are originally from other areas, namely the provinces of Idleb, Raqqa, Aleppo, Deir Ezzor, and Daraa.
Army and Armed Forces personnel also participated in the elections, including Defense Minister and officers of the General Command.
Candidates began their elections campaigns on March 14th, which continued until the morning of Tuesday April 12th, at the same time as the judicial subcommittees for the elections announced their readiness to carry out and supervise the elections.
To cover this event, a media center for mass media outlets was set up at Sheraton Hotel in Damascus.
Hazem Sabbagh
