![]() Next Sunday, the top governmental authorities in Las Tunas will be elected. |
The Las Tunas electoral authorities are finalizing the organizational details before the extraordinary election of the governor and vice-governor of this eastern Cuban province, scheduled for December 8.
Las Tunas, Cuba. – “Once the Council of State issued the call, in the Provincial Electoral Council and municipal electoral councils, we carried out all the actions aimed at first training and preparing all those responsible for compliance with what is established by the Electoral Law,” said Martha Rodríguez Martínez, president of the electoral body.
“We have all the guarantees that the constituency delegates meet on the indicated date and, by their own right, constituted in their respective electoral colleges, exercise the direct and secret vote.” She explained that the procedure described for this purpose in the Electoral Law of 2019 also indicates that the voting act must be attended by a deputy to the National Assembly of the People's Power.
The Constitution of the Republic and the Electoral Law provide that the President of the Republic proposes to the delegates to the municipal assemblies of the People's Power the candidates for provincial governor and vice-governor. The proposals would be sent to the president of the National Electoral Council before the date set for the election, accompanied by the biographies and photos of the candidates. She pointed out that both are already in the hands of the delegates from Las Tunas so they have sufficient time to study them.
It is also established that candidates must raise more than 50 percent of the valid votes to be elected. If one of the candidates does not reach this percentage, the law establishes that the President of the Republic would have to present another proposal. A new election must be held within 10 days of the previous one.
To ensure the cleanliness of the process, Rodríguez Martínez insisted, “practical exercises have been carried out to guarantee communications and the functioning of the computer system where the data of each municipality will be entered.” Once validated by the National Electoral Council, the results will be announced. Those elected will take possession of their positions before the representative of the Council of State designated for this purpose, on the date set by the latter, within the term of 21 days following their election.
Before voting this Sunday, the delegates of the municipal assemblies of the People's Power here will ratify the cessation in their functions by resignation and revocation, respectively, of Jaime Ernesto Chiang Vega and Ernesto Luis Cruz Reyes, the former governor and vice governor. Both procedures were promoted last October by the President of the Republic, Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, under the Law of Organization and Functioning of the Provincial Government of the People's Power, and the Law of Revocation of those Elected to the Bodies of the People's Power.
This will not be the first time that an extraordinary election of its main governmental authorities takes place in a Cuban province in light of the new legislation in force resulting from the 2019 Constitution. In May, it occurred in Matanzas, Villa Clara, and Santiago de Cuba, to fill the vacancies left by those who held those positions since the May 2023 elections.