election campaign was launched across the country with billboards, giant posters of the president and leaflets. Large rallies in support of the president were organised by government officials, often with coerced participation, as well as dinners and dances organised by citizens to ingratiate themselves with the governing party. In Druze-majority Sweida in south-west Syria, election billboards were torn and splashed with red paint within hours. Elections Prior to the elections, a Supreme Electoral Committee was formed. Expatriates Expatriate voting occurred on 20 May in countries where it was allowed. One requirement for voting is a valid Syrian passport with an exit stamp issued by an official border crossing, which excludes many who fled the war. The Embassy of Syria in Kuala Lumpur was the first embassy that started the election process. The following countries have allowed Syrian citizens to vote: The following eight countries did not allow expatriate voting to be held in the Syrian diplomatic missions: In Lebanon, thousands were bussed to the embassy outside Beirut to vote. Lebanese security forces struggled to control the crowd. Many voters carried portraits of Assad and chanted pro-Assad slogans, and the embassy played pro-Assad music. There were violent attacks on Syrian voters by Lebanese people. It was estimated that 50,000 of the 1.2 million Syrians in Lebanon voted. Only a few hundred out of the 1.3 million Syrians in Jordan voted in the presidential election. According to the state news agency, on 23 May, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates, Faisal Mekdad, handed over the results of counting the votes of the Syrian voters residing abroad to the Minister of Justice, Ahmed Al-Sayed, and to the Supreme Judicial Committee for Elections. He described the vote as peaceful and democratic, with the exception of Lebanon, and some Western states, where some voters were prevented from participating, and stated that these results would be included in the total and published together with them. In Syria The elections were held in the country on 26 May, from 7 am to 7 pm, later extended until 12 am. Banners of the incumbent president were hung on the 12,000 polling stations across the country. Although the government reported that 14 million citizens voted, SOHR estimated the real number was closer to five million. President Assad publicly cast his ballot in the former rebel stronghold of Douma, site of a suspected chemical weapons attack by his forces