Cuba goes to the polls in local elections

Morning Star report by Tom Mellen

Cuban citizens turned out in force on Sunday to vote for local assemblies across the socialist country.

Shortly before the polling stations closed, around 8.1 million people had voted to elect local representatives to the country's 169 municipal assemblies of People's Power - a turnout of almost 93 per cent.

About 15,000 representatives on the local assemblies are elected every two-and-a-half years.

Candidates are not chosen by party officials and do not need to be members of the Communist Party.

They are nominated by a show of hands at gatherings of the community-level Committees for the Defence of the Revolution.

As in other countries, each voter places a check mark by the name of the candidate they want and balloting is secret.

While participation is not mandatory, it is strongly encouraged as a civic duty.

National Electoral Commission head Ruben Perez Rodriguez described the high turnout as "a yes for the motherland, for Cuba, for the revolution and for socialism.

"It is a yes for the political system that we have adopted, that we defend and love," Mr Rodriguez went on.

After casting his vote, Cuban parliament president Ricardo Alarcon noted that, unlike in capitalist countries, Cuban candidates are barred from campaigning and are nominated, not on the basis of how much money they can raise, but on their "merits and capabilities."

"This is an electoral process where truth rules - it is very different to those in many countries, where deception, votes purchasing and corruption are ever present on election times," Mr Alarcon declared.

As well as resolving grassroots issues such as problems with refuse collection or noisy neighbours, the local assemblies also elect those who will fill regional assemblies and the national parliament, which in turn decides who will serve on the Council of State, Cuba's cabinet.

Provincial and national parliament elections are held every five years.

Cubans aged 16 years or older can vote, and even younger schoolchildren are encouraged to play a role - each ballot box is guarded by two children from the Young Pioneer movement.

full report from Morning Star


http://www.cuba-solidarity.org.uk/

Cuba Puts Final Touches to Elections

Havana, Apr 23 (Prensa Latina) Cuban voters and authorities are shaping final details for a successful holding of elections on Sunday, April 25.

On that day, at least 8.40 million electors are expected to cast their vote to choose 15,093 delegates to the Municipal People's Power Assemblies (local governments).

In those electoral districts where no candidate gets more than 50 per cent of valid votes, a second round will be held on May 2.

According to official figures, 34,766 candidates have been nominated for their capacities and merits in assemblies attended by 86.84 percent of electors.

Maximum age of most candidates is 50 years, 87.3 percent are high school or university graduates, and 9,190 of them are delegates already, a post for which they get no income.

After a dynamic test or rehearsal four days ago, president of the National Electoral Committee Ana Maria Mari asserted that Cuba is ready.

We verified coordination of work with different entities, regarding communication and notification systems and liaisons, she said.

In opinion of President of the Cuban Parliament Ricardo Alarcon, the whole electoral process has to be carried out with rigour, methodically and in a critical spirit, as demanded by head of State Raul Castro.

http://www.prensa-latina.cu/

Municipal Elections to Start in Cuba

More than 300,000 Cuban youths aged 16 will cast their vote for the first time in the upcoming April 25 elections of delegates to the Cuban Municipal Assemblies.

During a press conference, National Electoral Commission President Ana Maria Machado and Vice President Ruben Perez Rodriguez announced that the electoral rolls in each constituency will be verified January 28 through February 14 prior to the elections. Where needed, the second round of elections will take place May 2.

Machado and Perez announced that on January 28, the Municipal Electoral Registration Offices would hand to the electoral commissions of each constituency the electoral rolls to speed up verifying the data, and that an estimated 300,000 youths will have the right to cast their vote for the first time since, unlike many countries, Cubans have the automatic right to vote once they’ve reached adulthood.

The number of constituencies across the country this election has risen to 15,093 —15, 057 of which are ordinary and 36 special.

Members of the Committees for the Defense of the Revolution will be visiting people’s houses to verify any changes in the number of voters. Later on, the electoral commissions will be analyzing the collected data with authorities from the Identity Card Registration Office.


http://www.juventudrebelde.co.cu/