For those new to the Cuban electoral process

Cuba's secret elections

By Circles Robinson

One of the best-kept media secrets about Cuba is that the country holds regularly scheduled elections and that the Communist Party has nothing to do with the candidate selection.

In fact, the Caribbean island is about to hold nationwide nonpartisan municipal elections on Sunday, April 17. Voter registration is automatic for all citizens reaching sixteen years of age, unlike many countries where getting on the voter lists can be a difficult process for some sectors of the population.

Another surprise to those unfamiliar with the Cuban electoral system is that money is not the driving force, a refreshing difference from the dance of dollars and unethical practices that characterize campaigns throughout a continent where winning public office can be highly profitable.

Cuba does not claim to have a perfect electoral system but defends it as being more voter-friendly than others. As in most countries, the electoral law is subject to constitutional amendments, like occurred in 1992, when it was decided that provincial delegates and national parliament members should be elected by voters just like local representatives.

Those standing for election on the island are neither nominated because of their personal wealth nor for being the best fundraisers. Neither do they end up on corporate boards after leaving office as a payback for bending to special interest groups. The concept of a paid politician is absent in Cuba and even the national parliament representatives derive no financial compensation for their civic work.

Back in the 19th century, Cuban national hero Jose Marti was quoted as saying: "La Patria es ara, no pedestal" --the homeland is an altar, not a pedestal. His statement symbolizes the model for public service on the island since the 1959 revolution.


Anyone Can Nominate, Anyone Can be Nominated

Candidates in each of the 15,097 electoral districts located in the 169 municipalities were chosen at open neighborhood assemblies. All members of the electorate have the right to nominate a candidate or be picked to run for office, a unique feature of the Cuban system.

The electoral law stipulates that in each voting district there must be a minimum of two and a maximum of eight candidates. City council members serve two and a half year terms while provincial delegates and national parliament representatives are elected every five years.

As in the nonpartisan city council elections held in the vast majority of US municipalities and cities - like Los Angeles, Boston, Cleveland, Houston, Seattle, Las Vegas, Chicago and Atlanta - Cuban candidates do not have to have a party affiliation to seek public office. Instead, they run on their personal merits, and they include people with professional, political, community and labor involvements.

The Communist Party sees its role in the electoral process as a promoter of citizen participation and community awareness. The political organization, which is considered the ideological backbone of the revolution, considers grassroots support crucial to the survival of the system.

Similar to Republican and Democratic Party members running in municipal elections in the US, the nonpartisan nature of the elections in Cuba does not exclude members of the Communist Party, but they must run as individuals.


High Voter Turnout

Since the current Cuban electoral system took effect in 1976, voter turnout has averaged 95% and above, one of the world's highest for non-obligatory voting. This contrasts to municipal elections in the United States, which often draw less than a third of the registered voters.

An excellent example is the city council elections recently held in Los Angeles, California. With several candidates vying for mayor, only 28 percent of the registered voters bothered to show up at the polls. The two leading candidates, incumbent James Hahn and challenger Antonio Villaraigosa -who will compete in a runoff election-, received the nod from only 8 and 6 percent of the registered voters. Despite the spending of millions of dollars on the campaign, the vast majority of the electorate didn't think any candidate was worth voting for.

Such a common situation in today's USA would send up smoke signals in Cuba.National Assembly President Ricardo Alarcon said in a recent interview, "the primary emphasis [in the Cuban electoral system] is on the participation of the people. I would be very concerned if the level of involvement declined, if the public were to grow indifferent toward their government."

In the Bohemia magazine article about Cuba and the history of democracy quoted by a Canadian Friends of Cuba group, Alarcon said, ".to resolve the basic problems of equality and build a system which allows participation to be channeled is easier said then done."

An article published March 14 in Granma newspaper, the official organ of the Cuban Communist Party, takes a look at the long road ahead for men and women to have a truly equal opportunity to hold public office. The author, Maria Julia Mayoral, notes that while women now represent 23.37 percent of the local representatives, up from 8 percent in 1976, there are still major roadblocks to overcome.

Females now represent nearly two thirds of the island's university graduates and also stand out in scientific research and community work. Nonetheless, Mayoral states, independent of their academic level and professional success, women continue to be tied to domestic obligations and family responsibilities that men conveniently believe are not theirs.



Foreign Media Blackout

Something that usually catches the eye of visitors at election time is how cities and towns in Cuba are not plastered with campaign propaganda and that local TV and radio programs are not bombarded with ads. Instead, candidate photos and biographies are publicly posted in the voting districts, where, do to their reduced size, the contenders are personally known by most voters. This year, meet the candidate evenings are also slated for the first two weeks of April.

Cuban elections may never be headline grabbers in the foreign media. The absence of fantastic promises and viscous negative media campaigns makes them rather dull by comparison. The large number of polling stations and always holding elections on a Sunday also mean virtually nobody ends up saying they didn't vote because they didn't have time, a common complaint lodged by a growing number of US citizens.

To the contrary, Iraq's elections in January inundated world headline news because it was essential for the United States to show the world that its brand of democracy had arrived to the war torn Persian Gulf nation. After all, the alleged reason for being there in the first place-weapons of mass destruction-had long since proven to be a fabrication. The millions that boycotted the elections in protest of the foreign occupation of their country did so, according to Washington, because of their terrorist and undemocratic sympathies. On the other hand, the White House conveniently writes off Cuba's elections and the high voter turnouts as "one-party" or "communist."

 

Local Government in Cuba

Municipal governments, called People's Power Assemblies, have a president and vice president similar to a mayor and vice-mayor. The number of electoral districts in the municipality determines the amount of city council members, known as delegates or representatives. The minimum number is 30 and some assemblies in the more densely populated areas have as many as 80, 100 or more members. A rural voting district may have as few as 300 constituents while that figure can reach 4,000 in densely populated urban areas. These are much smaller than most wards or districts in the United States.

Cuban city council members are empowered to elect the mayor and vice-mayor from within their ranks and must do so by secret ballot within 21 days after the elections.

The Cuban system puts great importance on citizen accessibility to their council people, thus explaining the smaller electoral districts and greater number of representatives than in local governments in the United States. In Cleveland, Ohio, for instance, the ratio is 24,000 residents to one city council representative and the rate is considerably higher in other urban populations.

Among the city council member's responsibilities is to receive complaints and suggestions about public services and social problems, and vote on a proposed municipal budget which then goes on to the Provincial and National Assemblies for review and final approval. Then, it's one of their jobs to see that the corresponding institutions implement budgeted projects.

In a country subjugated to nearly a half-century of economic, financial and commercial blockade from the world's greatest military and economic power, the limitations faced by Cuba make the work of the city council member far from easy. Many of the economic problems facing the country originate in the White House, or the country's colonial and dependent past, and some will continue as long as Washington insists.

However, creative efforts to resolve local problems with the limited resources at hand and making sure the municipality gets its fair share of support from the country's many social programs, are the key to being a successful representative. Election officials note that on an average 46.5 percent of the delegates are re-elected, some for multiple terms.


Open To All

For visitors to Cuba interested in seeing the island's electoral process in action, voter registration lists and candidate profiles are currently posted in convenient locations. In addition, the polling places on Election Day and the vote count are all open public activities.

A novel feature of Cuban elections is the presence of 5th to 9th grade students at the polling places. Besides getting acquainted with this important civic responsibility and symbolically guarding the ballot boxes,their function is to help voters with disabilities that request assistance.

On Election Day the polls will be open from 7am until 6pm, however anyone still in line at the scheduled time of closure is allowed to cast their ballot. The manual vote count is done in public immediately following the closing of the polls. To win, a candidate must obtain more than a 50% majority of the valid votes. In districts where no candidate obtains that amount, a runoff election will be held on April 24 between the top two contenders.

 

When was Castro elected? You know, His Royal Beardness for Life? When and by whom?

 

I think this is Castro's sixth five-year term since direct elections were started in 1976. If my math is right, there will be a new election in 2006.

The National Assembly meets twice a year over its five-year term. Once it is established, it nominates and elects the 31 member Council of State including the President. The Council of State represents the National Assembly when it is not in session and is accountable for it actions to the National Assembly. Candidates for the provincial and national assemblies
are nominated not by the Communist Party or any mass
organization as in times past, but by the municipal
assemblies.

Municipalities are not to be confused with
cities or towns. Havana, a city of two million people,
for example, is composed of 15 municipalities.

Sorry, no royalty in Cuba. No "President For Life".

By the national assembly. They are, if I'm not mistaken, the highest authority in Cuba.

There were elections this year, I remember reading about it perhaps 3-4 months ago, but I don't remember what it was about.

 

You forgot Castro, who is president for life.

So Castro has never been elected. Thanks for clarifying. Do you think he will ever allow the Cuban people to choose their leader democratically, or do you think he will remain a dictator until he dies?

 

He is not "President for Life". François Duvalier was President for Life. Castro is not.

Yes, he has been elected, several times.

Read:

The national assembly is a democratic body.

In Cuba, there isn't just "one leader". The government, is elected by the national assembly. That includes Castro. In many ways, the government is acting on behalf of the National Assembly. It is the National Assembly who creates laws.

The National Assembly is elected by municipal assemblies. The delegates to the municipal assemblies (who are elected by a direct, democratic vote), elects the National Assembly. People can even nominate themselves as candidates. There is a universal suffrage for those 16 years and older, with no racial, gender, religious or political discrimination.


But that's not all. There is democracy in Cuba besides the elections, too. There's a lot of it, actually. It doesn't stop at the ballot box. Real democracy is ingrained in society.


It's not like in the US where you have two parties, and where your only real alternatives are between two millionaries or billionaires who will unconditionally serve the rich, with the TV channels (and rightly so) portraying the US election as entertainment.


In Cuba, there is no propaganda elections, like in the US, for instance.

He is not a dictator. He is not "a ruler who is unconstrained by law". He is not "a ruler with absolute power and authority". He is not the only one in charge, and although the government and the National Assembly lead Cuba, the ultimate power lies in the working class and the peasantry.

 

I was thinking of playing along with this for a little longer, but this is just too stupid.

In fact I think believing in shape shifting time travelling Illuminai lizards requires more sanity than believing Castro represents a democratically elected government.

 

Is there anything you find wrong with the Cuban electoral process?

 

It's about as good as China's electoral process.... or any other communist junta you'd like to name.

 

After a little bit of research, excluding biased websites such as anything including the word "Marxist" "Leninist" or "Communist" in the title and American websites (excluding the CIA World Fact Book, which hardly qualifies as propaganda) Cuba does indeed have universal suffrage (with the exception of "dissidents," whatever that means) for all citizens over the age of 16 and elections every 5 years (next one is in 2008). Trouble seems to be that Castro has received 100% of the legislative vote (the kind of vote that counts) since the office of president was created, which is, needless to say, very suspicious. As for the percentage of the popular vote that Castro received, I couldn't find anything about it from any websites (even Marxist and Cuban ones), which is also just a little odd. In my opinion, it seems that the comparison of Cuban democracy to Chinese is not unjustified.

 

I think everyone that who is not in jail, or does not have certain things on their criminal record (such as murder, for instance), can vote. The exile-Cuban mafia in Miami cannot vote, as far as I know.

Do you have a source?

I'm not an expert on the Cuba electoral process, but I don't think the government (including the President), is voted by a popular vote. It's the National Assembly who elect the government (including the President).
The government works in many ways, works behalf of the National Assembly.

There can (and probably are) things in the electoral process I have skipped over. Don't take my word for it. Read for yourself instead.


The National Assembly (who has, I think, a lot of power), is elected by candidates on a very local level, who are elected by a popular vote.

The local leaders are, just like the National Assembly and the Government, just representatives. In 1998, the National Assembly was comprised of 601
delegates. 173 of those were leaders of the local government. There were also 145 workers, peasants, cooperative workers, educators, health service employees and others directly linked to production and services.
Most of them are often relatively young people. In 1998, the average age for the representatives in the National Assembly was, 45.

46 percent of them were originally nominated in the municipal nomination area assemblies.



Compare that to the US, where, according to my knowledge, there are only 100 senators, and where all of them are millionaires. I remember reading, perhaps a few months ago, that the average wage for a senator in the US, is over 200 000 dollars. How can they represent the common people?

In Cuba, the common people themselves are in the National Assembly.

From one of the sources:

"Delegates traditionally meet at six-month intervals
with their constituents in small neighbourhood meetings
to give an account of themselves, hear complains, solve
problems and discuss various initiatives. August
describes several such meetings which he attended.
Topics ranged from the cost of meals on the lunch wagon
to the administration of healthcare. As happens from
time to time, if constituents are unsatisfied with
their delegate they can recall him or her and hold
another election."

http://www.leninism.org/stream/99/mll/0512-danchr.asp




In Cuba, not only the politics are democratic, but also the economy. Every penny in Cuba goes directly to the Cuban people. It's not like in the US, or in other countries, where the government, where they flush billions of dollars into corporations that already own billions of dollars!






Democracy comes from the greek word, "demokratia" which in turn comes from the words "demos" (originally meaning "people") and krato (meaning, to hold) or kratos (originally meaning, strength, power, authority - in modern greek meaning "State").

So, it follows that in a country where the people (i.e. the majority) hold power, that is, further their interests, the regime is democratic.

Now, officially, the Cuban one party state claims to support the interests of the working class, which is in all countries the majority of the population (note that by the term "working class" I do not mean only industrial workers, but any working person who does not earn money through capital). It follows therefore that since the interests of the working class are pursued and furthered by the Cuban state, the Cuban state is democratic.

 

Fidel Castro serves in the longest tenure of any world leader.


I wonder if he has passed Strossner of Paraguay in time in office.

Politicians are a lot like Bread

They get stale after awhile.

Mr. Castro is ossified.

Its too bad that the Cuban kulaks of Miami have been
excluded from the electoral process.

 

The source is the CIA world factbook, which, I think, is cross-referenced with the KGB world factbook, but don't take my word on that.

I'm no expert either. I only researched the subject for about 20 minutes. But it is just plain suspicious that a politician can stay in office as long as Castro has in a democratic society.

[/quote]The National Assembly (who has, I think, a lot of power), is elected by candidates on a very local level, who are elected by a popular vote.[/quote]I don't know. I did, however, encounter some facts about municipal elections, which seem to be held in a strictly democratic fashion. Credit where credit is due.

The local leaders are, just like the National Assembly and the Government, just representatives. In 1998, the National Assembly was comprised of 601
delegates. 173 of those were leaders of the local government. There were also 145 workers, peasants, cooperative workers, educators, health service employees and others directly linked to production and services.
Most of them are often relatively young people. In 1998, the average age for the representatives in the National Assembly was, 45.

46 percent of them were originally nominated in the municipal nomination area assemblies.

I'm not comparing things to the US. I haven't lived there in some time. The question is "Is Cuba a democratic society?" to which I believe the answer is no. No point getting into a pissing contest about whose government is better because as far as I'm concerned politics is a sordid business, albeit a necessary one, which you cannot enter without getting your hands dirty.

Legally speaking, Castro doesn't own the cigars he smokes, but I really don't see how they are owned by the Cuban people on a practical basis.

Suit yourself. I don't much care for politics, and you can certainly believe whatever you like. I just like to step in every once in a while when I feel that ideology is clouding people's judgement. Take that thread a little while ago where you said something like "Russia could have gone to the moon if they felt like it. But they saw no reason to go, which is why the US won the space race." I mean really, does it matter who went to the moon first when arguing the benefits of socialism over capitalism? You can still be a Communist and not think that the USSR was right all the time. Anyway, just my two sense. Never take anything I say too seriously, let alone get offended. I'll leave all you ideologues to it now. I mostly stick to the philosophy forum where I belong, and if anyone would like to discuss Marxism, libertarianism, or what have you on a philosophical level, I'd love to do so there. I just find things more pleasant over there.

 

According to Michael Moore, the King of Jordan is the longest serving leader.


Jacques Chirac has been active in big politics since 1962, and has been appointed head of the personal staff of Georges Pompidou. Chirac ran as a Gaullist for a seat in the National Assembly in 1967. Won the election and was given a post in the ministry of social affairs.
Chirac already rose to become economy minister in the late 1960's, serving as department head and a secretary of state. In 1972 he became minister of agriculture and rural development. He was minister of interior from March, 1974. He was prime minister from 1974-1976. He was elected Mayor of Paris in 1977, a position he held since 1995. That is 18 years as Mayor of Paris.

In 1981, he ran for President. Ran again for a second time in 1988. He lost, but he remained mayor of Paris and active in parliament. Although he has several times been accused of corrpution, a controversial judicial decision in 1999 gave him virtual immunity as President.

He became his first term as President in 1995. Chirac faced his fourth presidential campaign in 2002.

He is now 73, and has also done other things, like organizing elections. Castro is 78. He hasn't been the leader of Cuba all the time. Once I remember, he protested for 3 months and left office, until he returned back being encouraged by others in the government, and he brought stability once again.

Churchill has an equal long list as Chirac. Churchill was involved in politics since the 1890's, all the way up to the 50's.

First, they are not kulaks.

Second, many of the Cubans in Miami are mafia.

Third, they have tried to sabotage the election process in Cuba.

Fourth, their propaganda is trying to stop Cubans from voting.

Fifth, they are not Cuban citizens.

 

Quite true, it is indeed unusual, but not exceptional, nor unique. What I find unique is that he has been able to stay that long, despite the pressure from the capitalist world.

Absolutely. Many communists are even strongly opposed to the USSR.

He doesn't own them in a practically speaking, either. He is not a wealthy man, and does not have any interest in personal wealth. He was born in a wealthy family, but abandoned the prosperity (including nationalizing his families large wealth like any other large corporation or business).

The means of production (factories, etc.) are owned by the society as a whole, and generally, the motive for producing in Cuba is need, not profit. It is controlled by the public, and the motive is increasing the prosperity and happiness of the public. That's how I see it, at least.

Some people think so (I personally don't). I was giving an example of the space race, how the West have rarely or never heard of the achievements of the Soviet Union, like their landing on Venus. Some people imagine people in the Soviet Union were living in caves. It was just an example of the opposite (that they were really very advanced), and wasn't much of an ideological argument (at least not from my side).

A question, just out of plain curiousity.
Are there some philosophers you are especially interested in? Or some philosophical concepts?

 

Is this the same refugess who blow up trains and tried to invade cuba, and back the bastia dictatorship? Im not actually the biggest castro fan, but i think that the cuba has been stereotyped as an impoverished land ruled by a crack pot dictator, and it isn't really either.

 

Well, in answer to the first question, some but certainly not all of the philosophers I am interested in include Hume, Leibniz, Kant, Frege, Russell, Carnap, Wittgenstein, Saul Kripke, David Lewis, and W.V.O. Quine. There are many, many more. The areas of philosophy that I am particularly interested in are philosophy of language, philosophy of science, metaphysics, and ethics.