Electoral result in Cuba
The results of the elections to the National Assembly held in Cuba on March 26 were announced by the National Electoral Council (CEN).
The president of the CEN, Alina Balseiro Gutiérrez, affirmed in the press conference that the electoral participation was 75.87 percent and that more than 6 million Cubans voted. Gutiérrez affirmed that the candidates received the necessary votes for the 470 seats with parliamentary representation and with the right to be elected, and said that “5 million 565 thousand 640 votes were counted as valid, 383 thousand blank votes and 215 thousand votes were annulled, that is to say, invalidated”.
Gutiérrez said that popular power and government officials would be represented in the legislature with 25.11 percent, general and higher education workers with 10.85 percent, food producers, farmers, sugar workers, and peasants. with 10.65 percent, the representatives of the health and pharmaceutical industry with 8.94 percent, he reported.
Gutiérrez pointed out that of the elected deputies, 226 were women, 93 young people under 35 years of age and 167 current deputies, and emphasized that the elections were carried out in a transparent and free manner.
SELECTION PROCESS
Half of the parliamentary candidates were determined by municipal councils and the other half by electoral boards such as unions and student associations.
Candidates must receive more than 50 percent of the vote in their district to win seats in the National Assembly. If the candidate does not get enough votes, the Assembly can make the appointments for the region in question or allow the municipal commissions to do so.
Contrary to multi-party political systems, most of the candidates to enter the Legislature in Cuba are members of the Communist Party of Cuba (PCC).
Miguel Díaz-Canel, the first president to take office after Fidel and Raúl Castro, is expected to be re-elected for a 5-year term. Díaz-Canel was also a candidate for deputy.
The opposition asked the citizens to abstain, alleging that the elections were not reliable, while the ruling party called on everyone to vote. (AA)