Editing Elections in Syria (section)

===1973 Constitution===
According to the [[1973 Constitution of Ba'athist Syria|Syrian constitution of 1973]], Syria was a form of [[one-party state]] where only the [[Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party – Syria Region|Syrian Ba'ath Party]] was legally allowed to hold effective power. The presidential candidate was appointed by the parliament, on suggestion of the Baath Party, and needed to be confirmed for a seven-year term in a national single-candidate referendum.

Elections are officially designated as the event of "renewing the pledge of allegiance" to the [[Assad family]] and the state enforces voting as a compulsory duty on every citizen. Announcement of the results are followed by [[Ba'athism|Ba'athist]] rallies conducted across the country extolling the regime, wherein supporters declare their "devotion" to the President and celebrate "the virtues" of Assad dynasty.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Klatell |first=James |date=27 May 2007 |title=Syrians Vote in Presidential Referendum |work=CBS News |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/syrians-vote-in-presidential-referendum/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170406134454/https://www.cbsnews.com/news/syrians-vote-in-presidential-referendum/ |archive-date=6 April 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Black |first=Ian |date=28 May 2007 |title=Democracy Damascus style: Assad the only choice in referendum |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2007/may/28/syria.ianblack |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170406134014/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2007/may/28/syria.ianblack |archive-date=6 April 2017}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Chulov |first=Martin |date=13 April 2014 |title=The one certainty about Syria's looming election – Assad will win |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/shortcuts/2014/apr/13/certainty-syria-election-assad-will-win |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170621100122/https://www.theguardian.com/world/shortcuts/2014/apr/13/certainty-syria-election-assad-will-win |archive-date=21 June 2017}}</ref> Although minor [[political parties|parties]] were allowed, they were legally required to accept the leadership of the dominant party.

A series of presidential elections organized by the cadres of the Ba'ath Party has been held every seven years since [[Bashar al-Assad]]'s ascension to Presidency in 2000, which he regularly wins with overwhelming majority of votes.

In August 2011, President Assad signed Decree No. 101 on amending the General Elections Law. The Law stipulates that elections are to be held with public, secret, direct and equal voting where each Syrian voter, eighteen years and older, has one vote. The Law does not allow army members and policemen in service to participate in elections. It also provides for forming a higher judicial committee for elections, with its headquarters in [[Damascus]] to monitor the elections and ensure its integrity, in addition to forming judicial sub-committees in every Syrian province affiliated with the higher committee.<ref>President al-Assad Issues Legislative Decree on General Elections Law, SANA news agency</ref>