CUBA

LAST ELECTIONS

Also available: Archive of past election results for this chamber

Chamber:

Asamblea nacional del Poder popular

Dates of election / renewal (from/to):

20 January 2008

Purpose of elections:

Elections were held for all seats in the National Assembly of the People's Power on the normal expiry of the members' term of office.

Background and outcome of elections:

The main issue in the January 2008 elections was whether President Fidel Castro would seek re-election as Head of State. Mr. Castro, who is 81, had led Cuba since 1959, but handed over control of the government to his younger brother, Raúl, following surgery in July 2006. The National Assembly of the People's Power, the unicameral Parliament of Cuba, elects the 31-member Council of State, whose President is also the leader of the country.

At stake in the 2008 elections were 614 seats in the National Assembly of the People's Power. The number of seats was increased from 609 due to an increase in the population.

As in previous elections, only one candidate per constituency was nominated by municipal assemblies. Voters were asked to approve or reject either the full list or each of the 614 candidates. In order to be elected, candidates need to secure at least half of the valid votes.

Election campaigning is forbidden in the country. On the polling day, President Castro sent a message to Cubans announcing that he had cast an absentee ballot and urged them to vote massively.

Although voting is not compulsory, turnout has been traditionally high. In the 2008 elections, 96.89 per cent of the 8.4 million registered voters turned out at the polls. A total of 91 per cent of voters approved the full list of candidates, while others opted to vote selectively for some but not all candidates. All 614 candidates were elected. Mr. Raúl Castro was elected with the highest score - 99.4 per cent of the votes - surpassing his elder brother by one percentage point.

Among the 614 newly elected members, 265 were women, while 385 were first-timers. 56 per cent of them were born after the 1959 Revolution. The average age of newly-elected members is 49 years.

On 19 February, Mr. Fidel Castro announced in the official Communist Party paper that he would not seek a new presidential term, while retaining his seat in parliament.

The newly-elected Assembly held its first session on 24 February and re-elected Mr. Ricardo Alarcón de Quesada as its Speaker.

On the same day, the National Assembly of the People's Power elected 31 members of the Council of State. Mr. Raúl Castro was unanimously elected as President of the Council of State.

STATISTICS


Round no 1 (20 January 2008): Election results
Number of registered electors
Voters		8'231'365 (96.89%)
Blank or invalid ballot papers		392'007
Valid votes		7'839'358



Round no 1: Distribution of votes

Political Group	Candidates	Votes	%

Round no 1: Distribution of seats

Political Group

Total

Comments:

Embassy of Cuba, UK (30.01.2008)

Distribution of seats according to sex:

Men:

349

Women:

265

Percent of women:

43.16

Distribution of seats according to age:

Distribution of seats according to profession:

Also available: Archive of past election results for this chamber

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