The referendum for the approval of a new and discussed Family Code will be held in Cuba on September 25 and must have the “yes” of the simple majority of valid votes to be adopted, reported the authorities who began preparations for This process.
The president of the National Electoral Council, Alina Baiseiro, showed during a press conference on Thursday a first version of the ballot that Cubans over 16 years of age must fill out.
The ballot has only one question, as approved last week by the plenary session of the National Assembly of People’s Power, and it should be marked “yes” or “no” by Cubans by means of a cross: “Do you agree with the Family Code?
The norm that replaces one of 1975 provoked great controversy and had a lot of resistance in recent months, especially among conservative religious groups and churches that reject same-sex marriage, adoption by gay people or surrogacy.
For their part, some members of the island’s LGBT community criticized that they have to vote for something that is human rights, beyond their sexual or gender orientation.
On September 18, the vote will be held abroad, Balseiro reported, but it will only consider diplomats and collaborators — doctors, technicians and specialists under official contract –, not Cubans residing abroad. The latter will only be able to pay if they travel to the country.
The preliminary draft of the Family Code has already gone through an instance –from February to April– of popular consultations in which neighbors and colleagues from work centers held rallies to propose additions or point out flaws. According to the authorities, some 79,000 such meetings were held and some 6.5 million citizens participated in them.
Then the Parliament unified the criteria to announce the final text that will be voted on in September.
The lists of voters will be available between August 15 and 30, and the results may be being announced informally the day after the vote, but they will be officially delivered to Parliament on September 30, Balseiro said.
The Code contains other novel points, such as the extension of the permissions of grandparents to guarantee their communication with their grandchildren in case of any belligerence of father or mother, or hand over the “parental responsibility” of minors to the elderly, something crucial in the island, where it is usual for up to four generations to live together under the same roof and emigration means that many are protected by their elders.
It also establishes sanctions for domestic violence, for example, when there is separation of property during divorce, legally incorporates stepmothers and stepfathers, and regulates communication systems with grandparents and stepfathers. It also contemplates optional property regimes for married couples, the possibility for children to bear the surnames of their mother and father in the order they have it, and extends protection so that the disabled are not left vulnerable.
The new Family Code is one of the laws that must be updated after the reform of the Constitution in 2019.
