[NYTr] Cuba Gears Up for Jan 20 General Elections

[All the News That Doesn't Fit]

Agencia Cubana de Noticias (ACN)
http://ainch.ain.cu/mailman/listinfo/ingles


Cuba Gears Up for General Elections

Havana, Dec 24 (acn) A detailed report on the electoral rolls that will 
be issued for the second stage of the general elections in the country 
will be presented to the head of the Cuban National Electoral 
Commission (CEN).

On January 20, Cubans will elect a total of 1,291 delegates to
provincial governments, and also the deputies to the parliament (614) 
for a five-year term.

CEN's president, Maria Esther Reus, said collating the registers is one 
of the most important tasks within the preparation process.

The rolls include the full name, date of birth and address of all Cuban 
citizens over 16 years with the legal capacity to exercise their vote, 
without race, gender nor social background distinctions. Only those who 
have been sentenced for crimes or are mentally disabled are not 
included.

Reus said the district's electoral commissions and municipal ID offices 
will receive regular reports on updates and modifications that should 
be done to the lists.

Likewise, those who for strict reasons can not go to the polls in
his/her residence area and are accepted by CEN will be included in the 
rolls of the requested district.

In addition, a total of 600 voting tables will be placed at airports, 
bus stations and recreation facilities, so that voters on those places 
can exercise their right to vote.

                               ***

Prensa Latina, Havana
http://www.plenglish.com

Raul Castro Meets with Santiago Voters

Santiago de Cuba, Dec 24 (Prensa Latina) Cuba's First Vice President
Raul Castro conversed on Monday with residents in El Cobre, electoral
district seven, 12 miles from Santiago, which nominated President Fidel
Castro as candidate.

The vice president highlighted the modest origin and high cultural
level of those proposed by that district, and recalled that he is from
that eastern region.

Raul Castro was born between the current boundaries of Santiago de Cuba
and Holguin and he spent most of his childhood and youth in this region
of the island.

He noted that also except for Fidel Castro, none of those nominated in
this district were been born during the attack on Moncada Garrison on
July 26, 1953, which action marked the beginning of armed actions
against Fulgencio Batista.

The vice president sent greetings to voters and praised the quality of
those candidates in this district, which will elect deputies and
delegates to the 14 People's Power Provincial Assemblies on January 20.

hr ccs abo mc PL-21