MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Syria is holding parliamentary elections on Wednesday. Over 7,000 polling stations opened across the country at 7:00 a.m. local time (04:00 GMT). The authorities planned to close the polls at 7:00 p.m.
According to Syria's SANA state news agency, the HJCE decided to extend the time the voters could use to cast their votes due to the high turnout.
The Wednesday parliamentary elections are the second held in the country since the beginning of the civil war in 2011. The previous parliamentary elections were held in May 2012, with voter turnout exceeding 51 percent, which is equal to some five million people, according to Syria's electoral committee.
