Presidential election kicks off in Syria

Damascus [Syria], May 26 (ANI): The presidential election in Syria began on Wednesday in government-controlled areas across the middle eastern country.
Scores of people from areas including Sweida, Mafa'ala and Sheikh Badr City gathered to vote at polling stations, which opened in the morning, reported SANA News.
In a statement, the head of Judicial Subcommittee in Sweida, Judge Counselor, Farid Akwan said that the polling stations started receiving voters after opening the ballot boxes and making sure that they are empty of any documents in front of the agents and media.
He noted that the polling stations are distributed in all areas across the province and citizens can vote at any centre they chose.
In Mafa'ala town in the eastern countryside of the province, Marwan Ghanen, Head of Polling Station Committee, said that the ballot boxes were opened to make sure that they are empty of any paper, then they were closed in front of the candidates' agents and media to start the electoral process.
Meanwhile, member of the Higher Judicial Committee for Elections, Mukhles Qaisiya has affirmed that Judicial Subcommittees in different provinces had begun their work from half past six in the morning.
SANA reported Qaisiya stating that since the start of the election process at 7 am, a large turnout was noticed, which indicated the love of the Syrians for their homeland and their insistence on participating in building the future of the country,
Syria's Interior Minister Mohammad al-Rahmoun announced on Tuesday that over 12,000 polling stations had been set up across the country for the polls.
"All logistic preparations have been finalized to ensure smooth elections, noting that it is estimated that over 18 million citizens across the country are eligible to vote," Xinhua reported quoting Minister Mohammad al-Rahmoun.
Three candidates are in fray for the President's post, namely President Bashar al-Assad, former Deputy Cabinet Minister Abdallah Saloum Abdallah, and Mahmoud Ahmed Marei, head of a small Syrian opposition party. (ANI)