CubaUs first direct

national election

by Ann Schneider

Close to 8 million Cubans cast their ballots in the first direct 
elections for the Provincial and National Assemblies, on 
February 24th, 1993. The date marked the 98th 
anniversary of the beginning of their first War for 
Independence from Spain. While there were no contested 
races, the elections were a democratic advance from the 
prior system where national and provincial leadership were 
elected by the municipal assemblies.

For the first time, Cuban President and Commander-in-
Chief Fidel Castro contested for the popular vote, running 
for Deputy to the National Assembly from the 7th electoral 
district in Santiago de Cuba. Granma, the official organ of 
the Cuban Communist Party, reported on February 25th 
that both Fidel and his brother Raul Castro, General of the 
Cuban Army, received RyesS votes from 99 percent of the 
eligible voters in their districts.

Voting is not mandatory in Cuba, and anyone age 16 or 
older who has not been convicted of a serious crime has 
the right to vote. However, because balloting was done at 
the offices of the local Committees for the Defense of the 
Revolution (CDRs), there was social pressure on election 
day. Every polling place provided a private, curtained 
booth for voters to mark their ballots.

Between February 8th and 23rd, the U.S.-funded, Miami- 
based Radio Marti station broadcast, more than a thousand 
times, an explicit message urging Cubans to express 
dissent by defacing their ballots or leaving them blank. 
However, CubaUs Radio Havana, on February 26th, 
reported that only 7.2 percent of the ballots cast were 
spoiled or blank. The voter turnout was 99.6 percent, and 
all national candidates were approved by at least 85 
percent of the electorate.

Because ballots only presented a single name for each 
available seat, the February 24th Cuban election 
objectively can be considered as no more than a 
referendum on the course of the revolution. The landmark 
Cuban feature of the election, a form of direct democracy, 
was the method for choosing the candidate whose name 
appeared on the ballots. It paralleled the procedure, used 
in Cuba since 1972, to select delegates to the Municipal 
Assemblies. Open town-hall type meetings were held in 
each neighborhood to single out peopleUs representatives 
whom the community felt were responsible, ethical and 
good problem- solvers.

Under the new electoral law, included in the constitutional 
revisions of July 1992, the system was expanded to 
provide a pool of candidates from which most national and 
provincial representatives were to be drawn. Also, to make 
sure that all sectors of society were represented in the 
nominating process, Candidacy Commissions were 
created, composed of members from every mass 
organization: the Confederation of Trade Unions, the 
CDRUs, the Federation of Cuban Women, the Student 
Unions and the Alliance of Small Farmers. These 
commissions, one for each level of office, were charged 
with the duty of consulting local community leaders, social 
and professional organizations, and the major workplaces 
for recommendations and comments on proposed 
candidates.

Finally, each Commission submitted a slate to the 
Municipal Assembly, which negotiated and chose the best 
qualified candidate to be named for each position on the 
ballot.

The Municipal Assemblies were chosen in prior contested 
elections, the most recent on December 20, 1992 when 
28,000 candidates ran for 13,865 seats. Voter turnout for 
that election was 97 percent, some 15 percent greater than 
expected. In 433 precincts where no candidate won a 
majority, run-off elections were held on December 27th.

Up to half of the Municipal Assembly Delegates elected in 
December may also be candidates for one of the higher 
bodies. However, under the new law, the remaining 50 
percent of candidates must be nominated by Candidacy 
Commissions from outside the municipal assemblies.

As a result of this reform, the upper bodies now contain 
fewer professionals and proportionately more youth, 
tradespeople, and sports and cultural figures. In addition, 
11 journalists and two pastors were elected to the 589-seat 
National Assembly.

The National Assembly and the Provincial Assembly, 
which has 1,190 seats, have five year terms. The 
Municipal Assembly Delegates serve for two and a half 
years. At all levels, the elected officials are required to 
report regularly to their constituencies, and all are subject 
to recall for misfeasance or nonfeasance.

The Communist Party does not directly participate in the 
elections. It is the institutions of PeopleUs Power P the mass 
organizations and individuals P who nominate and elect.

No more than 45 of the 589 Deputies elected on February 
24th to the National Assembly are Communist Party cadres; 
a similar number are members of the Communist Youth 
League, the organization reserved for persons under age 
30 P those born after the revolution.

Campaigning in Cuban elections is very limited. What took 
place was designed to acquaint the people with the 
candidates, 85 percent of whom were not incumbents and, 
therefore, not necessarily well-known. Posters of each 
candidate, displaying a photograph, home address, 
birthdate and biographical information (such as work 
history, educational level and organizational affiliation) 
were displayed in the windows of each CDR hall. There 
were no statements or political positions. The biographies 
were written in the third person. Also appearing in the 
window was a sample ballot with simple voting instructions. 
People were told they had the right to vote for one, some, 
none, or all of the candidates on the ballot; and that 
candidates, to be elected, had to receive approval by more 
than 50 percent of the voters their districts. Write-ins were 
not permitted. If a nominated candidate failed to receive at 
least 50 percent of the votes, the municipal assemblies 
were required to nominate a second, perhaps less well-
qualified, candidate and to hold a later round of elections.

No known dissidents sought nomination, according to 
Reuters news service and other sources, but there is 
disagreement as to whether dissidents were harassed or 
whether they simply stayed away because they know they 
could not win in a popular vote.

While voters had the right not to vote for a candidate, 
straight-ticket voting was highly encouraged by an election 
slogan that appeared everywhere, RTodos son sus 
candidatosS (All are your candidates). Fidel, the weekend 
before the election, handwrote a message for all Cubans 
that was carried by both Granma and Juventud Rebelde, 
the youth paper. He called for a united vote, not just as a 
slogan but as a revolutionary strategy. In his words, ROur 
election under creative new methods, more democratic 
than have ever been employed anywhere in the world, 
form part of the great struggle of the Tspecial periodU in 
which our people fight heroically for the survival of the 
values that we love.S His reference was to the collapse of 
the Soviet Union and its loss as a trading partner.

Cuba chose to hold a popular election at a time when 
imports are 25 percent of their pre-l990 level, and public 
transportation has shrunk to one-third of its normal level, 
leaving Cubans waiting for hours to squeeze on a bus. It 
was a testamonial to the faith CubaUs leaders have in their 
people and it affirms their defiance of the U.S. embargo.	
o	

Ann M. Schneider is a New York.City member of the 
National Lawyers Guild.