The National Electoral Council (CEN) of Cuba presented this Thursday its schedule for the referendum -on September 25- of the Family Codea legislative package that includes, among other things, same-sex marriage, according to a report from the agency Eph.
Polling stations will open at 7:00 local time (11:00 GMT) and close at 18:00 local time (22:00 GMT) on the same day. The review and update of the total number of polling stations will take place between August 11 and 16.
After summoning the #Referendum of #CodeOfTheFamilies, the electoral authorities are prepared to fulfill their mission. Elections in Cuba #YourVoteCounts pic.twitter.com/I3x0tAFp5g
— Elections in Cuba (@Elecciones_Cuba) July 25, 2022
According to the calendar of the electoral body, it will not be until September 30, five days after the vote, when the final report of the results will be released, which will be binding and will require a simple majority (more than 50% either for or against).
The question that voters must answer is: “Do you agree with the Family Code?” recalled Alina Balseiro Gutiérrez, president of the CEN, at a press conference. In her speech, she reiterated that only Cubans over 16 years of age with effective residence in the country will be able to vote up to two years before the consultation.
Likewise, he clarified that Cubans living abroad will only be able to exercise their suffrage if they are on the island on the day of the referendum. “It is necessary to comply with what the electoral law establishes and that the person abroad meets those requirements (exercising the vote within Cuba),” he said.
The official clarified that the vote outside of Cuba will be allowed only for workers and collaborators of the diplomatic representations of the Island. In this case, the day will be held on September 18.
On July 22, the National Assembly of People’s Power (ANPP) unanimously approved the definitive version of the so-called Family Code.
The deputies supported version 25 of this legislative package to regulate interpersonal relationships and that includes same-sex marriage, adoption by homosexual couples and surrogacy (“solidarity”, in this text).
The regulations went through a broad popular consultation between February and April, in which 6.4 million people participated. If approved in September, the Family Code will replace the norm in force since 1975.
The source points out that the code is the only norm submitted to a referendum among the 70 updated after the entry into force in 2019 of the new Constitution, among which are legal instruments as sensitive as the new Penal Code.
Efe/OnCuba.
