Presidential elections were held in Syria on 26 May 2021, with expatriates able to vote in some embassies abroad on 20 May. The three candidates were incumbent president Bashar al-Assad, Mahmoud Ahmad Marei and Abdullah Sallum Abdullah. The elections were considered not to be free and fair. The United Nations condemned the elections as an illegitimate process with "no mandate"; accusing the Ba'athist regime of undermining UN Resolution 2254 and for obstructing the UN-backed political solution that calls for a "free and fair elections" under international monitoring.

Prior to the elections, several countries and intergovernmental organisations expressed concerns about the fairness and legitimacy of the election, and stated they would not recognize the results. 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.

Officials said 78.6% of voters took part, but in the context of the ongoing civil war and subsequent population displacement, this figure has been questioned. The government claimed over 18,000,000 "eligible" voters, but because ballots were only offered in areas under government control, only just over 10,000,000 were actually able to vote, while, according to the official results, Assad won over 13,000,000 votes, technically meaning a voter turnout of 130%. Many observers and analysts noted that these numbers exceeded the possible number of adult voters in government-held areas of the country. President al-Assad was sworn-in for his fourth term (2021–2028) on 17 July 2021 at the Presidential Palace.

Per Chapter 3, Article 88 of the Syrian Constitution, which only allows for a maximum of one re-election, al-Assad will be ineligible to run for another term in 2028.

Background
Bashar al-Assad, the 19th President of Syria, took power in a referendum in 2000 following the death of his father Hafez al-Assad, who had ruled Syria for 30 years. Assad also inherited the role of leader of the ruling party: the Regional Secretary of the Syrian Regional Branch of the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party. He received 97.29% and 97.6% support, respectively, in the uncontested and undemocratic 2000 and 2007 elections. On 16 July 2014, Assad was sworn in for another seven-year term after another non-democratic, but this time multi-candidate, election where he received 88.7% of the vote. The election was held only in areas controlled by the Syrian government during the country's ongoing civil war and was criticised by the UN.

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. The pre-war citizen population was over 21 million. As of 2020, Syria remained the largest source country of refugees with 6.6 million refugees having fled the nation since the start of the conflict. Additionally, seven million Syrians are internally displaced, including 4.4 million in rebel-held territory, and two to four million live in the Kurdish-ruled Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria - see Demographics of Syria - while over 100,000 citizens are detained as political prisoners. The election was held only in government-held territory. According to TRT World, 5-6 million adults live in areas under government control, while the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) estimates 10.9 million adults and children. According to SOHR, only five million people participated in the election, and some were coerced into doing so. Interior minister Mohammad Khaled al-Rahmoun said that 18 million Syrians are eligible to vote.

The vote took place despite a 2015 United Nations Security Council resolution calling for a new constitution ahead of elections.

Analysts said the elections were held so that the government and its backer Russia could claim victory in the war, to rehabilitate the country's reputation with the Arab League, and to demonstrate that Syria is a safe country for refugees to return to.

Four hundred civil servants, judges, lawyers and journalists detained in a crackdown early in the year on social media dissent under cybercrime laws were granted an amnesty on May in advance of the election, along with thousands freed under a general amnesty for currency speculators, drug dealers, smugglers and kidnappers. 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.

The election was also held in the context of a severe economic crisis. The government took a series of steps in the weeks before the vote to influence public opinion, including attempts to reduce inflation and to extend government grants to state employees in areas experiencing economic hardship.

Electoral system
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." (Article 59)
The Election Law shall include the provisions that ensure: (Article 61)
 The freedom of voters to choose their representatives and the safety and integrity of the electoral procedures.
 The right of candidates to supervise the electoral process.
 Punishing those who abuse the will of the voters.

Selection of candidates
The Speaker of the People's Assembly of Syria, Hammouda Sabbagh (Ba'ath Party), announced the commencement of candidacy for Presidential elections, starting from Monday 19 April. 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.

Requirements for a presidential candidate

According to Law No. 5 of the year 2014 of the general elections code, The 5th chapter - article No. 30, the candidate for the post of President of the Syrian Arab Republic must:
 have reached the age of 40 years.
 have Syrian Arab nationality by birth.
 have all their civil and political rights and not be convicted of despicable crime.
 not be married to a foreigner. 
 be resident in Syrian territories for no less than 10 consecutive years when standing for election.
 not have a nationality (citizenship) other than that of the Syrian Arab Republic. 
 not to be deprived of their right to vote.
Further eligibility requirements in the Constitution include: 
 The religion of the President is Islam (Article 3)
 The President cannot carry another nationality (Article 152)

The requirement for candidates to be backed by 35 members of parliament gives power to the ruling National Progressive Front, which dominates the assembly, and the requirement to have lived continuously in Syria for the past 10 years excludes opposition figures in exile.

Polling

Candidates
On 3 May, the Syrian Supreme Constitutional Court announced that three candidates had been accepted, with the others rejected for not meeting the constitutional and legal conditions:

 Bashar al-Assad, incumbent president of Syria (2000–present) and Ba'ath Party candidate (Damascus)
Mahmoud Ahmed Marei, lawyer, born 1957, head of the Arab Organization for Human Rights and former secretary-general of the National Front for the Liberation of Syria. He is former President of the Youth Office at the National Coordination Committee for Democratic Change, member of the internal opposition delegation to the Geneva peace talks on Syria (2017). Democratic Arab Socialist Union Party (NCC) candidate (Damascus)
 Abdullah Sallum Abdullah, born 1956, former state minister for People's Assembly Affairs, former MP and Socialist Unionists Party candidate (Aleppo)

According to the Daily Telegraph, "Few consider former state minister Abdallah Salloum Abdallah and Mahmoud Merhi, a member of the so-called "tolerated opposition", serious contenders."

Unsuccessful candidates
Candidates reported to have put themselves forward included:
 Jamal Suliman, actor and Syria's Tomorrow Movement candidate
 Mohamad Muafaq Sawan, leader of the Democratic Unionist Reform Party (Damascus)
 Faten Ali Nahar, 50-year old independent lawyer (Quneitra)
 Mohamad Firas Yassin Rajouh, engineer, activist, and a businessman, independent (Damascus)
 Mohamad Nadim Sha'ban, independent (Damascus)

Campaign
 On 15 May, Mahmoud Ahmed Marei launched his campaign with the main goals: 1. "Together to release prisoners of conscience", 2. "Together for a participatory Government of National Unity with a real representation of the Opposition"'. At the same time, his pre-election page on Facebook and other social networks was launched. His pre-election spot was broadcast on Sama TV, Syria TV and Syrian News Channel. On 16 May, the candidate gave an hour-long interviews to Syria TV, Syrian News Channel and Sama TV. He also gave an interview to Al-Watan newspaper. According to the Daily Sabah, Marei described his campaign as modest, as it had no financial support apart from his own resources and that of internal opposition parties.
 On 15 May, the Al-Assad's campaign was launched with the slogan: "Hope is with work". His other main motto is: Together we challenge. The campaign has its pages on Facebook, Twitter, Telegram, Instagram and others. Like other campaigns, this one has its spots on Sama TV, Syria TV and the Syrian News Channel.
 On 15 May, Abdullah Sallum Abdullah's campaign with slogans: 1. '"Our strength in