HAVANA – With almost 67% of the votes in favor, Cuba said “Yes” to the reform of the Family Code submitted yesterday to a referendum, which introduces gay marriages and adoptions and surrogacy in the country, among the novelties. This was announced today by the president of the National Electoral Council (Cen), Alina Balseiro, as reported by the state agency Prensa Latina. Balseiro said that although the count has yet to be concluded in some colleges of three provinces, the Cen validates these results as “valid and irreversible”.
The National Electoral Council (Cen) reported that at 5 pm on Sunday, 5,806,078 million people had voted out of 8.4 million registered voters, equal to a participation of 68.91%. The polling stations closed at 7 pm, but the Electoral Council decided to extend the opening of the constituencies in eight provinces in the west and center of the island by another hour, due to the difficulties caused by the rains associated with the Hurricane Ian. At the close of the polls, the authorities did not publish data on abstention, but the independent media is certain that it will be higher than that of the other referendums held in the country.
Yesterday was in fact the first referendum of its kind for the island, but Cuba has experienced two previous plebiscites of a constitutional nature: in 2019, when participation was 84.4%, and in 1976, when the turnout reached 98%, according to official figures. The high abstention has a political reading, as it is promoted by dissidents as a form of protest against the government, which in recent months has carried out an intense campaign in the official media in favor of ‘yes’.