-- a secret ballot process then elects 12,000 municipal representatives and half the members of provincial legislatures; Cuba has 169 municipalities and about 15,000 electoral constituencies within them;
The system works because participation is high, and ordinary Cubans alone choose their candidates - not politicians, corporations, the privileged or other monied or influential interests.
The rest of the process works this way to elect members of the National Assembly and remaining provincial seats:
-- it's also through municipal and provincial electoral commissions; Cuba has 14 provinces;
-- only ordinary citizen members again may nominate candidates, but included for this process are all sectors of society - labor, students, youths, women, farmers, scientists, artists, community organizers, educators, health workers and so on as well as members of the Committees for the Defense of the Revolution.
-- the final candidate list exactly equals the number of seats to be filled; it's drawn up by the National Candidature Commission (comprised of student and grassroots organizations) that chooses candidates based on their patriotism, overall merit, and support for the revolution;
-- even with no opposition, those selected must get over 50% of the vote to win;
-- voting isn't mandatory but participation is high; voters, nonetheless, have choices - to vote, not vote or destroy their ballots.
On January 20, Cubans elected National Assembly and half of the provincial legislative members. Turnout was high at around 95% because Cubans support the revolution and want officials who represent it. Look at the results and compare them to American elections discussed below.
Cuba's National Electoral Commission released the data:
-- only 36.78% of newly elected National Assembly members (224 seats) previously served in Cuba's parliament;
-- 63.22% of the winners (391 seats) are first time representatives;
-- racially, 118 parliamentarians are black and another 101 are of mixed race (35.67% in total);
-- women comprise 42.16% (265 seats) of the legislature;
-- educationally, 78.34% (481 seats) are university graduates and 20.68% (127 seats) completed high school or technical education training; and
-- skill areas represented include engineers, economists, doctors, nurses, lawyers, sociologists, the military, scientists, physical culture teachers, meteorologists, historians and theologians. Note that most new parliamentary members aren't politicians.
I am a 72 year old, retired, progressive small businessman concerned about all the major national and world issues, committed to speak out and write about them.
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