Syria has not seen free and fair elections since Bashar al-Assad’s party came to power, the state Department said in a statement.

The US considers Sunday’s parliamentary elections in Syria unfair and unfree, the state Department said in a statement.

According to US Foreign Ministry spokesman Morgan Ortagus, “[Syrian President] Bashar al-Assad wants to present this dubious election as a success against an alleged Western plot, but in reality, it is just another step in a long line of Assad-controlled voting in which the Syrian people have no real choice.”

Also, the document contains a reminder that Syrians who live outside the country and makeup almost a quarter of the population of Syria have the right to vote but cannot vote. More than 5 million refugees were driven out of the country as a result of the regime’s “merciless war against its citizens.”

The State Department reports that there is reliable information that at polling stations in Syria, employees distributed ballots filled out in advance in favor of candidates from the ruling party.

The elections in Syria should be free and fair; they should be held under the supervision of the UN, the US foreign Ministry emphasizes. Until these conditions are met, the international community will view these elections as rigged, the state Department said in a statement.

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