[6] In what was considered by some international observers to be a foregone conclusion and by many as an "empty election" marked by fraud, the result was a landslide victory for Assad, who won over 95% of the vote.

[28] The 2021 election took place as the Syrian civil war enters the eleventh year of conflict and as a result the country still remains divided among various factions.

[35][40] Most of the freed critics were on the government side in the Civil War, and the amnesty excluded tens of thousands of Assad political detainees.

[40] The Constitution of Syria approved in 2012 states that: "Voters shall be the citizens who have completed eighteen years of age and met the conditions stipulated in the Election Law."

In his speech at the first session of the second extraordinary round of the People's Assembly, Sabbagh called on those who wish to run to submit their candidacy applications to the Supreme Constitutional Court within a period of 10 days until Wednesday 28 April.

"[14] Candidates reported to have put themselves forward included: In Druze-majority Sweida in south-west Syria, election billboards were torn and splashed with red paint within hours.

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.

[31] President Assad publicly cast his ballot in the former rebel stronghold of Douma, site of a suspected chemical weapons attack by his forces in 2018.

[80][42][7] The elections were not held in the predominantly Kurdish Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria, apart from ballot boxes in military zones controlled by the government in Hasakah and Qamishli, or in the opposition-held Northwest, which together make up a third of the country.

[7][81] Authorities in the Autonomous Administration closed the border to all vehicles except ambulances to prevent residents from travelling to government areas to vote.

[82] According to the Daily Sabah, tribes in Daraa, in Syria's south, also declared the election illegitimate,[59] and hundreds of people there protested against the vote.

[83] Video footage showed polling officials casting votes on citizens' behalf before handing back ID cards.

[39][85] According to the state news agency, the People's Assembly voted to invite representatives of the parliaments of the following countries to monitor and supervise the electoral process: Algeria, Oman, Mauritania, Russia, Iran, Armenia, China, Venezuela, Cuba, Belarus, South Africa, Ecuador, Nicaragua and Bolivia.

[85] Russian observers were shown on Syrian state TV station SANA, watching voters casting ballots without any privacy.