The special electoral commission of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Minrex) of Cuba finalizes the preparations for the referendum on the Family Code in embassies and official missions abroad, according to official media reports.
The president of this Commission, Gustavo Machín, assured that voting will take place in schools abroad from 7:00 a.m. on the island until 6:00 p.m. next Sunday, September 18, a week before the scheduled the country (Sunday, September 25), in accordance with the agency Latin Press (PL).
“For our commission, therefore, the time difference with Cuba will be a great challenge because there are constituencies that are 13 hours apart,” the official said.
at the headquarters of @CubaMINREX took place the day of preparation of the consular officials before the new #CodeOfTheFamilies.
experts from @CubaMinjus contribute to strengthening the process for voting on the Code abroad, which will take place next Sunday 09/18. pic.twitter.com/LTNTtt3pjc
— Cuban Foreign Ministry (@CubaMINREX) September 13, 2022
Machín explained that when the schools close, according to the law, the ballots will be counted, with the witnesses established in the process. The data collected will be computed and reported to the center of the Special Commission of the Minrex and from there will be uploaded to the database of the National Electoral Council.
The diplomat specified that there are 124 electoral constituencies abroad, divided into around 1,000 polling stations, and gave as an example the case of Venezuela, where 640 polling stations have been formed, “according to the number of Cubans with the right to vote who are in That country”.
It also transpired that, although there is a certain flexibility based on the circumstances of each diplomatic mission abroad, the vote must be in person in order to guarantee “the transparency and integrity of the electoral exercise.”
Remember PL that the special Electoral Commission of the Minrex is in charge of organizing the voting of Cuban citizens who are abroad on official missions, not only diplomats, but all those who carry out a state mission, such as health personnel, education personnel and others, so that they can exercise their right to vote.
also the website Nation and Emigration reported this Tuesday that experts and diplomatic authorities of the country are carrying out preparation sessions for Cuban consular officials before the new Family Code.
Last Sunday, a dynamic test of the referendum was carried out among Cubans who remain in diplomatic missions and work commitments abroad.
As has been reported, Cubans residing abroad would only participate in this process if they are on the island on the day set for the vote.
The new Family Code, version 25 of which was approved on July 22 by the National Assembly of People’s Powerpreviously went through a popular consultation process in which 6.4 million people participated, and which led to the modification of 49.15% of the articles in relation to the previous proposal, according to official sources.
The regulation will be the only one among the 70 updated after the entry into force in 2019 of the new Constitution that will be submitted to a popular referendum before definitively becoming law.
Among other issues, it regulates interpersonal and family relationships, and contemplates issues that have been the subject of controversy, such as equality marriage, adoption by homosexual couples and solidarity gestation. If approved, the new law would replace the one still in force that dates from 1975.
