Khaberni - Syria witnesses this Sunday, the first electoral process after the fall of Assad's regime to select members of the People's Council, an election process carried out by electoral bodies formed in Syrian provinces.
The voting process will officially begin the formation of the first Syrian People's Council after the fall of Assad's regime. It will take place at the designated electoral district centers in most provinces by the Supreme Committee for People's Council Elections, with a subsequent date to be set for voting in some areas of Raqqa and Hasaka provinces (Maadan, Ras al-Ain, and Tal Abyad) while the seats of other districts will remain vacant in the two provinces, in addition to all districts of Suwayda province until suitable conditions are available.
The doors of the polling centers will open at 9 AM, according to Nawar Najmeh, spokesperson for the Supreme Committee for People's Council Elections, who explained that those voting are the accredited members of the electoral bodies. They arrive at the centers showing their identification papers, receive their electoral cards, and then go to the head of the subcommittee at the centers to receive the officially stamped ballot paper before they enter the secret voting booth to fill it out, and then it is publicly placed in the ballot box.
According to Najmeh, the voting process ends at 12 PM preliminarily. If all members of the electoral body have not yet voted, the voting period may be extended until 4 PM at the latest.
Counting of Votes
After the voting ends, the ballot box is opened publicly in front of the media, and the vote counting process begins. The preliminary results are immediately announced through the media outlets.
The spokesperson for the Supreme Committee clarified that after announcing the preliminary results and names by the committee, the process is referred to the appeals committees to consider any objections submitted by members of the electoral bodies concerning the voting or counting mechanisms. The final results will then be announced at an official press conference held by the Supreme Committee for People's Council Elections on the following Monday or Tuesday.
The nomination door for membership of the People's Council closed on the twenty-eighth of last September across fifty electoral circles throughout Syria, with a total of 1578 candidates, among whom women constituted 14%.
The campaign period for the candidates began on the twenty-ninth of the same month and ended on Friday evening, with Saturday being a day of electoral silence.
New Electoral Mechanism
This electoral process in Syria comes according to a new temporary mechanism specified by Presidential Decree No. (66) for the year 2025 issued by Syrian President Ahmad al-Shar', which stipulates the formation of the Supreme Committee for People's Council Elections consisting of ten members in addition to its president, Muhammad Taha al-Ahmad, to oversee the entire electoral process.
The presidential decree stipulated the distribution of council members according to population density in the provinces, dividing members into two groups: notables and intellectuals, with a third of the members appointed by the president and two-thirds elected by electoral committees distributed across the provinces.
In another decree, number (143) for the year 2025, the number of members of the People’s Council was set at 210. Electoral circles were to be formed at the administrative region level, with each circle consisting of one or more areas, and each having its electoral body responsible for electing two-thirds of the council members, while only members of electoral bodies are eligible for candidacy.
Since the announcement of its formation, the Supreme Committee for People's Council Elections has conducted field tours in the provinces and held meetings with all components of the Syrian people to gather their suggestions and opinions regarding the temporary electoral system.
The committee worked in consultation with community and official activities to choose the members of the subcommittees in each district to oversee the electoral process and communicate with local communities, propose preliminary lists of members of electoral bodies, and supervise centers and staff.
Independent judicial appeal committees were formed in each province, composed of judges appointed by the Minister of Justice, to rule on appeals against the members of the subcommittees and the final lists of electoral bodies, as well as to consider objections to the results in electoral districts.
Appeal Phase
The phase of filing appeals against the preliminary names of members of electoral bodies in the provinces was one of the stages the electoral process underwent last month, according to Nawar Najmeh, who previously stated that the appeals mechanism and public monitoring are the last defense against infiltrations of Assad regime supporters into electoral bodies.
He noted that the committee monitored all social media sites and the documents and evidence published on them that indicated the presence of members in the electoral body who are supporters of Assad's regime, to directly remove their membership if the appeals are accepted.
It is noted that the new Syrian People's Council will serve for two and a half years, extendable.
This election of People’s Council members is the first of its kind since the fall of Assad on December 8 last year, making it a pivotal point in establishing new legislative institutions that reflect the transitional phase of Syria.
