The great P. J. O’Rourke once said, Don’t vote — it only encourages the bastards! It would appear that Cubans have taken this exhortation to heart.
Of course, “elections” in Cuba are as much a mockery as they are in any communist regime. Opposition parties are banned even more comprehensively than they are in Ukraine. Voters’ only “choice” is to show up and pretend to approve of the sole candidate nominated by the government.
In such a system, the only real choice is to not show up at all. So, at National Assembly elections this weekend, many Cubans chose not to.
Cuba’s government reported Monday that abstention in National Assembly elections was 24.1%, a figure some analysts said reflects discontent with the island’s economic crisis as well as a rise in apathy.
While a 75.9% voter turnout in Sunday’s voting is high compared with other countries, it is about nine percentage points lower than voter turnout in Cuba’s 2018 National Assembly elections and far lower than the 94.2% turnout seen in 2013.
Coast Reporter
Abstention rates in Cuba average 10%, so a 150% increase is a damning indictment. It’s claimed by Cuban independent media and civil organisations that the real figure is even higher.
Which is exactly what Cuban opposition groups have been calling for.
Images published on social media and reports by Cuban independent media outlets and civil society organizations suggesting a low voter turnout following a boycott campaign by several opposition groups […]
Of those who voted Sunday, 10 percent annulled the ballots or left them blank, authorities said. Several civil society and dissident groups dispute the data released Monday by the Cuban electoral authorities, which cannot be verified independently because Cuba does not allow independent elections observation.
Miami Herald
Still, in a totally-not-surprising outcome, all 470 legislators were elected. Because of course they were: it’s a communist regime, after all.
Participation in Sunday’s election was widely seen by both pro- and anti-government groups as a litmus test to gauge support for the Cuban leadership at a time of deep economic crisis and growing social unrest. […]
Cuba’s government does not allow opposition, so most parliamentary candidates are members of the Communist Party of Cuba (PCC). Candidates still must receive 50 percent of votes to be elected.
Well, hey: how hard is it to get more than 50% of votes, when you’re the only name on the ballot?
Opposition groups, primarily outside of Cuba, had encouraged voters to stay home in protest, saying the election had no meaning in a one-party system with no formal opposition or international oversight.
Al Jazeera
The boycott campaign of these National Assembly elections are a repeat of a boycott of municipal elections last year. And those are elections in which at least participants get to nominate their own candidates.
Even then, though, voter turnout was its lowest in forty years.
After all, there’s not much point in trying to nominate your own candidate when the government immediately jails or sends them into exile.
But, hey: communists gonna communist.