Elections, Cuban Style

By Angel Rodriguez Alvarez  Cuban News Agency (ACN)

The Cuban electoral system is one of the least studied outside the island, yet is probably one of the most "interpreted" by politicians and analysts around the planet. That is why it is important now, with the new elections upcoming, to present some of the features and elements which allow its fair evaluation.
What were the distinctive characteristics of the Cuban electoral legislation before the triumph of the Revolution in 1959?
Cuban legislation over the 57 years of the country's existence as a neo-colonial republic of the US was characterized by frequent modifications. The first electoral law, very simple and limited, was designed by the US occupation government and served to elect the delegates to the 1901 Constituent Assembly and to guide the first presidential elections.
In 1903 a new law was dictated and modified in 1908 during the second US intervention by a consultative commission headed by General Enoch Crowder, who also headed the team which represented various political parties that drafted the 1919 electoral code.

Later, a number of modifications were introduced and new electoral laws were approved as a consequence of the instability that characterized Cuba's so-called republican stage.
Between 1940 and 1959, an electoral system that was guided through the established orders of the 1940 Constitution complied, without exception, amidst pressures of the groups in power, while hamstrung with deceitful and fraudulent procedures.
On what is the current Cuban electoral system legally based?
The first electoral law issued after the January 1, 1959 revolution was number 1305. Adopted in 1976 as a part of the Socialist Constitution approved that same year, it guided the elections of that period and in 1979.
In 1982, the National Assembly of the People's Power (Parliament) adopted law number 37, which was applied in elections held until 1992. Starting at that moment, representatives were only elected directly and for a period of two and a half years; delegates to the districts that made up municipal assemblies elected the members of the provincial assembly and its deputies.
According to the constitutional reform of 1992, the direct vote was established to elect the provincial delegates and deputies. The term for municipal delegates was maintained at two and a half years and at five years for provincial representatives as well as the deputies.

Electoral laws number 72 and 92, adapted later to constitutional reform that same year, responds to the need to adjust the electoral system to new conditions as recommended during the 4th Congress of the Cuban Communist Party and in solving challenges which appeared during the application of the previous law.
What main aspects that regulate the Cuban electoral law?
-Election of delegates to the municipal and provincial assemblies and deputies of the nation.
-The constitution of assemblies and the election of there respective presidents and vice presidents.
-The constitution of the National Assembly and the election of its president, vice president and secretary as well as the members of the Council of State.
-Ways to cover the vacant elected positions.
-Voting in referendums.
-Objectives and functions of the Candidates Commissions.
What is the role of the Cuban Communist Party in the electoral process?
Article 5 of the Socialist Constitution approved in 1976 by more than 95 percent of the population over 16 years of age, establishes that the Cuban Communist Party-- an organization based on Marxism-Leninism and is follower of the ideas of the island's national Hero Jose Marti-- is the vanguard organization of the Cuban nation and orients "common efforts" in support of the objectives of social transformations underway in the country.

The Party is not an entity that is part of the electoral process. The Party does not
propose nor elect candidates; as a political body, it does not intervene in competitive elections, but serves as the organizer and guarantor of transparency and true democracy in the process.
Its main function is to unite and orientate the people and its institutions in favor of the social and political transformations that help in the construction of a social system contrary to capitalism and its brutal exploitation.
In Cuba, the people nominate and elect their representatives, taking into account the individual social merits of its citizens and not their party affiliation.

This coming October, Cuba will hold elections -established by law- which will be dedicated to the voting for representatives of "People's Power:" delegates to the municipal and provincial districts and deputies to the National Assembly.
What do these elections consist of and how much does the public participate in them?
The first stage is the formation of the electoral commissions made up of respected residents in each community; they take on this responsibility voluntarily and without receiving any remuneration whatsoever.
Electoral registration is then conducted, guaranteeing that inscription is universal, automatic and free for all citizens over 16 years of age who are not invalidated by reasons of mental health.
What is most important is the moment of nominating candidates to be district delegates. They are directly proposed by community residents or by their neighbors in public assemblies. In each district a minimum of two nominations are required.
The electoral colleagues, as well as the commissions, are made up by citizens of the community, whom take on the task voluntarily and without any money in return. The population votes massively.
In the previous 12 elections, the lowest number of registered voters was in 1976, with 95.2 percent. At the end of the voting, the vote count is immediately carried out publicly in the Electoral College itself.
The voters themselves participate in this process, as well as journalists and foreign visitors.

On what other principles are the electoral system based?
-The right of citizens to intervene in the State's leadership, directly or through their elected representatives who make up the People's Power.
-In the case of delegates to the municipal assemblies, citizens vote for only one candidate or none. When it deals with the provincial delegates and deputies, a voter can vote for all, various, one or none.
-There are no political parties.
-All those elected can run again, meet with electors to inform them of their work and can be revoked.
-The delegates and deputies are not professional politicians and maintain their normal working activities.
-Members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces and other armed forces institutions have the right to be elected.
In synthesis the Cuban electoral system constitutes a genuine expression of participatory democracy through which the people nominate and elect their representatives.