Syrian refugees and expatriates crossed over the Lebanese-Syrian border today to cast their votes in the first ever Syrian presidential elections.
Previous polls have taken the form of a referendum on the continued rule of Bashar Al-Assad.
Reporting from the frontier, The Telegraph's Ruth Sherlock said around 7,000 people had crossed over by around 11am local time (9am GMT), on their way to polling stations set up by the regime in the no-man's land between the two countries.
But there are serious doubts about the legitimacy of the ballot, with only two other candidates apart from President Assad - one of whom has voiced support for the incumbent - and fighting going on across swathes of the country.
In addition, voting is only taking place in areas controlled by the regime.
Of those crossing over the Lebanese border, many indicated their loyalties by displaying pictures of President Assad.
"There's no question that these people are going to vote for Bashar Al-Assad. Most of the people I've spoken to don't even know the names of the other two candidates.
"There's a question as to whether this support is genuine. On the one hand there's a genuine feeling that they want stability, they want this war to end.
"On the other hand some people have said that they fear that if they don't come to vote they might not be able to return to Syria or that they'll be punished in some way," said Ruth Sherlock.
Contains footage from Reuters and APTN
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