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| Syrians in Lebanon Flood Polling Place, Choosing Assad Out of Fervor or Fear | Syrians in Lebanon Flood Polling Place, Choosing Assad Out of Fervor or Fear |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| YARZE, Lebanon — Syrians living in Lebanon swarmed their country’s embassy here on Wednesday to cast early ballots in a sharply disputed presidential election that is virtually sure to keep President Bashar al-Assad in power, turning out in numbers that surprised even embassy officials and brought a major highway from Beirut to a standstill for much of the day. | YARZE, Lebanon — Syrians living in Lebanon swarmed their country’s embassy here on Wednesday to cast early ballots in a sharply disputed presidential election that is virtually sure to keep President Bashar al-Assad in power, turning out in numbers that surprised even embassy officials and brought a major highway from Beirut to a standstill for much of the day. |
| Not a single person among the scores interviewed said they had voted for anyone other than Mr. Assad, who for the first time in four decades of his family’s rule faces opponents, two little-known figures. | Not a single person among the scores interviewed said they had voted for anyone other than Mr. Assad, who for the first time in four decades of his family’s rule faces opponents, two little-known figures. |
| Some voters proclaimed enthusiastic support for Mr. Assad. Others said they felt obliged to vote for fear that they would otherwise be barred from returning home or could face retribution from Mr. Assad’s powerful supporters in Lebanon. Other Syrians around Beirut said they stayed away because they considered the election an insulting sham. | Some voters proclaimed enthusiastic support for Mr. Assad. Others said they felt obliged to vote for fear that they would otherwise be barred from returning home or could face retribution from Mr. Assad’s powerful supporters in Lebanon. Other Syrians around Beirut said they stayed away because they considered the election an insulting sham. |
| Mr. Assad has held out against an insurgency that began with protests three years ago before exploding into civil war. His opponents reject the very notion of an election run by a government with no history of tolerating dissent during a conflict that has killed an estimated 160,000 Syrians and driven more than nine million from their homes, with 2.5 million of them refugees outside the country. | Mr. Assad has held out against an insurgency that began with protests three years ago before exploding into civil war. His opponents reject the very notion of an election run by a government with no history of tolerating dissent during a conflict that has killed an estimated 160,000 Syrians and driven more than nine million from their homes, with 2.5 million of them refugees outside the country. |
| With voting in Syria scheduled for next Tuesday, elections for Syrians living abroad were held on Wednesday at 43 embassies around the globe, though several countries, including France, refused to allow them. The voting served as a kind of dress rehearsal and an important inflection point in the conflict. | With voting in Syria scheduled for next Tuesday, elections for Syrians living abroad were held on Wednesday at 43 embassies around the globe, though several countries, including France, refused to allow them. The voting served as a kind of dress rehearsal and an important inflection point in the conflict. |
| Mr. Assad’s supporters said the vote gave him new legitimacy and showed that many supported him freely, even as scenes at some polls sharpened questions about the credibility of the process, with no private booths, votes cast by some under-age Syrians and apparently lax control over who received ballots. | Mr. Assad’s supporters said the vote gave him new legitimacy and showed that many supported him freely, even as scenes at some polls sharpened questions about the credibility of the process, with no private booths, votes cast by some under-age Syrians and apparently lax control over who received ballots. |
| Opponents, who staged protests in some cities, conceded that they never expected him to survive in office long enough to claim a new seven-year term. Some said that Syrians, exhausted by war and fearful that the alternative could be Islamist extremists, might be voting for him because they believe he is winning — and is the lesser of two evils. | Opponents, who staged protests in some cities, conceded that they never expected him to survive in office long enough to claim a new seven-year term. Some said that Syrians, exhausted by war and fearful that the alternative could be Islamist extremists, might be voting for him because they believe he is winning — and is the lesser of two evils. |
| Nowhere was the day more dramatic than in Lebanon, a country of four million people that hosts more than one million officially registered refugees, more than any other country. Lebanese officials say the country also hosts as many as 500,000 to one million more Syrians, including expatriates, laborers and refugees who fear registering. | Nowhere was the day more dramatic than in Lebanon, a country of four million people that hosts more than one million officially registered refugees, more than any other country. Lebanese officials say the country also hosts as many as 500,000 to one million more Syrians, including expatriates, laborers and refugees who fear registering. |
| Syria long occupied neighboring Lebanon and still wields strong influence here, through its ally Hezbollah, the Shiite militia that is also the country’s most powerful political party, sending fighters to support the Syrian government. | |
| Hundreds of thousands of refugees were excluded by rules that required voters to have left Syria through official customs posts. Many refugees crossed porous mountain borders to take the quickest and safest route or because they feared the authorities. | Hundreds of thousands of refugees were excluded by rules that required voters to have left Syria through official customs posts. Many refugees crossed porous mountain borders to take the quickest and safest route or because they feared the authorities. |
| Others refused to vote. In Shatila, a Palestinian refugee camp in south Beirut that hosts thousands of Syrians, Ahmed, 34, a carpenter from the northeastern Syrian city of Raqqa who asked not to be fully identified for his safety, said he would never vote for the man “who made me a humiliated refugee.” | Others refused to vote. In Shatila, a Palestinian refugee camp in south Beirut that hosts thousands of Syrians, Ahmed, 34, a carpenter from the northeastern Syrian city of Raqqa who asked not to be fully identified for his safety, said he would never vote for the man “who made me a humiliated refugee.” |
| But nearby, Umm Mohammad, 50, who is from Aleppo, said she had taken a bus provided by Hezbollah to vote. “I hate Bashar, but we are just weak strangers here,” she said, adding that her son had been beaten when a pro-Assad militia member saw the opposition flag in their apartment. | But nearby, Umm Mohammad, 50, who is from Aleppo, said she had taken a bus provided by Hezbollah to vote. “I hate Bashar, but we are just weak strangers here,” she said, adding that her son had been beaten when a pro-Assad militia member saw the opposition flag in their apartment. |
| Others displayed enthusiasm that seemed hard to fake. Souad Abu Hilal, a beautician, wore a T-shirt proclaiming “shabiha forever,” referring to pro-government militias loathed by the opposition, and declared: “Every country has mistakes. Bashar is going to fix all of our mistakes.” | Others displayed enthusiasm that seemed hard to fake. Souad Abu Hilal, a beautician, wore a T-shirt proclaiming “shabiha forever,” referring to pro-government militias loathed by the opposition, and declared: “Every country has mistakes. Bashar is going to fix all of our mistakes.” |
| Regardless, the road to the embassy became the scene of the largest gathering of Syrians here in memory, as tens of thousands, and perhaps more, tried to vote. | Regardless, the road to the embassy became the scene of the largest gathering of Syrians here in memory, as tens of thousands, and perhaps more, tried to vote. |
| The Lebanese authorities recently banned Syrian political displays to prevent conflict, but along the clogged highway, watched by Lebanese security forces, men hung out of cars festooned with portraits of Mr. Assad and the flags of the Syrian government and Hezbollah. Nowhere to be seen were pictures of the other candidates, let alone the flag of the Syrian opposition. | The Lebanese authorities recently banned Syrian political displays to prevent conflict, but along the clogged highway, watched by Lebanese security forces, men hung out of cars festooned with portraits of Mr. Assad and the flags of the Syrian government and Hezbollah. Nowhere to be seen were pictures of the other candidates, let alone the flag of the Syrian opposition. |
| Shoving crowds at the embassy — occasionally chanting “With our souls, with our blood, we sacrifice for you, O Bashar!” — overwhelmed a single small room with just four ballot boxes. Officials extended voting hours until midnight, but said they were unsure whether they could accommodate even the 100,000 who had preregistered. | Shoving crowds at the embassy — occasionally chanting “With our souls, with our blood, we sacrifice for you, O Bashar!” — overwhelmed a single small room with just four ballot boxes. Officials extended voting hours until midnight, but said they were unsure whether they could accommodate even the 100,000 who had preregistered. |
| Officials took down names and identity numbers. Under portraits of Mr. Assad and his nominal opponents, Hassan al-Nuri and Maher al-Hajjar, volunteers handed out ballots — even to foreign reporters — without demanding proof of registration. | Officials took down names and identity numbers. Under portraits of Mr. Assad and his nominal opponents, Hassan al-Nuri and Maher al-Hajjar, volunteers handed out ballots — even to foreign reporters — without demanding proof of registration. |
| Ahmed al-Ali, 16, a restaurant worker from Aleppo, marked the ballot in his own blood and then dabbed his face with it, declaring, “My blood type is Bashar.” The voting age is 18. | Ahmed al-Ali, 16, a restaurant worker from Aleppo, marked the ballot in his own blood and then dabbed his face with it, declaring, “My blood type is Bashar.” The voting age is 18. |
| Amid confusion over the process, many voters, some illiterate, asked election workers to fill out their ballots, wrote their names on them, or failed to seal their envelopes. | Amid confusion over the process, many voters, some illiterate, asked election workers to fill out their ballots, wrote their names on them, or failed to seal their envelopes. |
| In downtown Beirut, middle-class government opponents said they had the luxury of not voting because they had secure livelihoods outside Syria. One woman said her husband, who commutes to Damascus, planned to vote to avoid trouble and because he thought that Mr. Assad could best end the chaos. But she said she would not vote, “no matter what,” for someone “who destroyed the country to stay in power.” | In downtown Beirut, middle-class government opponents said they had the luxury of not voting because they had secure livelihoods outside Syria. One woman said her husband, who commutes to Damascus, planned to vote to avoid trouble and because he thought that Mr. Assad could best end the chaos. But she said she would not vote, “no matter what,” for someone “who destroyed the country to stay in power.” |