The stock exchange had closed during the chaotic days leading up to the ouster of former President Bashar Assad in a lightning rebel offensive.

When Syria's new leaders shut 60 Damascus bars, drinkers protested, and the government reversed itself. It's an example of the tussle between secular and Islamist values in the new Syria.

The dictator's choice of voting location sent "a message telling the opposition that we are celebrating through your demise," one Syrian analyst tells NPR.