Communist Web Thursday 27th April 2000 9.30pm gmt Almost 8 Million Cubans Went To The Ballot Boxes . 98.06% participated in the election of municipal and provincial governments. BY ALDO MADRUGA PHOTOS BY AHMED VELAZQUEZ (Granma International staff writer) IN a concrete demonstration of unity and support for their social system, 7,913,000 Cubans - 98.06% of those eligible to vote - went to the polls last Sunday 23rd April to elect authorities for their municipalities and provinces. In this election, 13,853 delegates were elected from various neighborhoods and electoral districts to the Municipal Assemblies of Popular Power, the highest authority at this level and from where in turn are elected those that will join the Provincial Legislative Assemblies and where candidates for membership of the National Parliament are either approved or rejected. The photographs and biographies of the more than 31,000 candidates (the only permitted form of publicity in Cuban elections) were exhibited for almost a month prior to the ballot at the places closest to each neighborhood or locality. Each of these candidates was nominated and approved at public assemblies, free and open to every local resident. Nevertheless, it was announced that the following weekend will see a second round of voting taking place in the 833 constituencies where none of the candidates obtained the necessary majority. Approximately 50% of those elected this time, were already acting as delegates in the recently concluded election. More than half a million people, none of whom received payment of any sort, participated in the various organizational structures of these elections and more than 300,000 children and young people helped to guard the ballot boxes throughout the... http://www.billkath.demon.co.uk/cw/almost8/almost8.html
