MID-TERM VOTE

Cuban elections during historic times

Some 88.3% of eligible voters cast ballots during the first round of mid-term elections, on April 19, to select delegates to Municipal Assemblies of People’s Power
Author: Livia Rodriguez Delis | livia@granma.cu
april 21, 2015 09:04:24

 

 

 

 

 

 

Photo: Juvenal Balán

This April 19, Cubans participated in another historic event reflective of the times. More than 7.5 million voters, 88.3% of eligible voters, exercised their right to vote to reaffirm their commitment to the future of the Revolution, on a day when the country also celebrated the 54th anniversary of Cuba’s victory over the U.S. backed invasion at Playa Girón, on the Bay of Pigs.
Alina Balseiro, president of the National Electoral Commission (CEN), presented preliminary results to the press, assessing the vote as satisfactory, with 90% of the ballots ruled valid, 4.54% submitted blank and 4.9% considered invalid.
She reported that 11,425 delegates were elected during this first round, having won over 50% of the vote as required, while 1,164 constituencies will return to the polls April 26 for a second round vote, since no candidate reached the necessary percentage.
Balseiro noted that the number of female delegates rose to 34.87% of the total and that 14.95% were youths, while 54.87% of current delegates were reelected.
She emphasized that only 59.24% of those elected to the Municipal Assemblies of People’s Power are members of the Communist Party of Cuba, while 6.75% are members of the Young Communist League, saying, “This demonstrates that political affiliation is not required to be a delegate.”
More than 24,600 polling stations were established for the elections, with 20,000 young people serving as observers, of special relevance during the public count of the vote, also witnessed by members of the community, as any interested party has this right.