Voter turnout in Cuba’s national legislative elections on Sunday was higher than in November, when Cubans elected their local authorities, a slight respite for a government whose abstention rate is the main gauge of potential social discontent.
The National Electoral Council (CEN) has confirmed that up to 17.00 (local time) on Sunday, 70.34 percent of voters had participated, a figure that two hours before the closing of the polling stations already exceeded the 68.58 percent registered in November.
Then, abstention was an unprecedented record for a country accustomed to overwhelming turnout rates. Prominent voices of the opposition had called for non-participation in Sunday’s elections as a gesture of repudiation of a system they do not recognize as democratic.
In fact, electoral authorities have emphasized when offering preliminary data — to which voters from the last two hours of elections would remain to be added — the upturn in turnout with respect to previous processes, although the final figure will foreseeably not reach the 85.65 percent recorded in March 2018, when the National Assembly was also renewed.
Cuba’s one-party system leaves no room for the incorporation of opposition candidates among the 470 names in the race, who aspired to as many seats in Parliament. Among those repeating are the current president, Miguel Díaz-Canel, and his predecessor, Raúl Castro.
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)
