Cuba Publishes List of Voters for Referendum on Constitution

The lists of voters for the February 24 referendum on Cuba's new Constitution are being published Monday and Tuesday, sources of the National Electoral Commission (CEN) said. According to the authorities sworn on December 28 to organize, direct and validate the elections, each person can verify as January 16 the records, which should include more than eight million voters, that are being called to ratify the Constitution approved on December 22 by the People''s Power National Assembly.

Quoted by Granma newspaper, Colonel Mario Mendez, Chief of Identification, Immigration and Foreign Affairs Direction, said that the lists will be put in 'visible places near polling stations.'

Mendez urged voters to corroborate their personal data, and if necessary, proceed to correct them, modify them and update them in the procedure offices of each municipality.

According to the high officer of the Ministry of the Interior, these facilities -known in Cuba as Identity Card Offices- will be reinforced in the coming days to guarantee the electoral process.

More than eight million Cubans are eligible to the vote on February 24, a national date, which marks the restart in 1895 of the war against Spanish colonialism, to pronounce on the new Constitution, a text that ratifies Cuba's socialist nature and the leading role of the Communist Party in society.

The constitution reflects changes in the structure of the State, extends guarantees and human rights, promotes foreign investment, strengthens people's power from the grassroots (the municipalities) and recognizes several forms of property, including private property.