Blood Elections: Presidential election in Syria within the Red Regime Lines

Abstract

The oppositional groups called the June 3 presidential election “blood elections” because of the huge numbers of lives lost during the three years of war. When pro-regime voters marked their ballots with blood instead of ink, “blood elections” took on a new meaning. While Western media and decision makers presented the Syrian election as both surprising and inappropriate, this Insight argues it was not. The elections held within the red lines of the regime where Bashar al-Asad won a landslide victory with 89% of the votes, represented the essence of the official Syrian narrative: The Syrian people are behind Bashar al-Asad.