Syrian voters head to polls for local administration elections

Syrian voters began flocking to the polls this morning to choose their representatives in local administration elections. Some 42889 candidates compete for 17588 seats at 1337 administrative units, including 154 cities, 502 towns and 681 municipalities. The number of the electoral centers is 9849, two ballot boxes in each, where electors vote for their candidates for the administrative unit, and an election committee consisting of a head and two members supervises the process, the Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) reported. The Syrian Interior Ministry distributed bottles of invisible ink to prevent fraud and ensure the honesty of elections. Assistant Interior Minister for Civil Affairs, Hassan Jalali, said in a statement to SANA that the electors will be using the identity card for voting, according to Decree No. 125 for 2011 for those who are 18 years of age and above. Jalali said that the ministry has provided all required equipment to the Local Administration Ministry in order to make the election process a success. Jalali underscored that the number of the IDs granted in Syria is about 15 millions, adding that the number of the population who are more than 18 years old reached 14.5 millions on Sunday.