|
Logistics
for the municipal elections tested in Cuba
WITH less
than one week to the elections of delegates to the
country’s 169 Municipal Assemblies (local
government) more than 300,000 Cubans have confirmed
the logistical conditions for exercising their vote.
Juan Vela,
vice president of the National Electoral Commission
(CEN), informed the media that the dynamic test
yesterday (Sunday) checked all the information
systems to be used in the April 17 elections.
Vela
emphasized that the verification process of the
electoral mechanisms had the participation of
300,000-plus Cubans and the state institutions
involved in the transmission of data, such as the
Ministries of Informatics and Communications (MIC)
and the Basic Industry (MINBAS).
He explained
that 37,283 electoral colleges took part in the
exercise, 83 more than those decided upon some days
ago, as it was decided to increase those in
provinces like Granma and Santiago de Cuba.
“In those
provinces, there were constituencies with more than
350 registered voters and the idea is that none of
them should exceed that total, so as to facilitate
the polls and subsequent count,” he commented.
The likewise
dean of the University of Havana explained that in
order to guarantee the transfer of municipal
electoral commissions to the provinces and then to
the CEN, ETECSA, the Cuban state communications
enterprise, has established a command center to
monitor the efficiency of that process.
He added
that the MINBAS has also established a control
center to assure electricity supplies to the
electoral registration information points during the
elections.
Vela noted
that all the conventional means for the handing over
of counted votes, such as messengers, horses,
pigeons and telephones were activated while the
computerized system was being tested.
He confirmed
that this network, in use for the first time for
local elections, functioned correctly in the testing
of parts in a state of congestion or in peak hours,
as will be the case on election day next Sunday.
In relation
to election software created by national
specialists, the CEN vice president announced that
the program functioned well.
The
Electoral Law of 1992 establishes two types of
electoral processes: general and partial elections,
the latter to elect delegates to the island’s 169
Municipal Assemblies every two and a half years.
In the
general elections, held every five years, Cuban
voters also elect deputies to the National Assembly
and delegates to the Provincial Assemblies of
People’s Power.
The
elections scheduled for next Sunday have the
exceptional characteristic of being the first after
the Bush administration announced its plan to try
and destroy the Cuban Revolution. (PL)
|
