Syria is holding a presidential election in government-held areas, amid heightened security.
President Bashar al-Assad is widely expected to win a third seven-year term in office.
However, critics of the Syrian government have denounced the election as a farce.
Syria is three years into a civil war in which tens of thousands of people have died and millions more have been displaced.
Analysts say Syrian officials have gone to great lengths to present the vote as a way to resolve the crisis.
This is the first time in decades that more than one name – just a member of the Assad family – has appeared on the ballot paper.
The interior ministry says there are 15.8 million eligible voters, both inside and outside Syria, and about 9,600 polling stations have been set up around the country.
In the Syrian capital, Damascus, people had to make their way through multiple checkpoints to cast their ballots.
For thousands, this was a chance to pledge their allegiance to the president. Some have reportedly refused to go behind the curtain to cast their vote in privacy, instead publicly declaring their backing for Mr Assad.
Odai al-Jamounai, 18, told the Associated Press that he had used a pin to prick his finger and vote in blood, “to express by my love to my country and my leader.”
In the coastal town of Latakia, a stronghold of Mr Assad, Zein Ahmed told the BBC he would be voting for the president because “no-one can lead this period better than him. We believe in him.”
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