Cuba holds national elections with no opposition candidates

By ANDREA RODRÍGUEZ
Associated Press

HAVANA (AP) — Cuba holds National Assembly elections Sunday, but there are only 470 candidates running for the 470 seats, with no opposition challengers and no campaigning. Voters essentially will do no more than endorse the nominated slate of candidates. The polling technically is nonpartisan, but falls under the indirect control of the country’s true power under the constitution, the ruling Communist Party. The outcome may be a foregone conclusion, but one indicator that will be closely watched is how many voters abstain from the process. That number has been growing over the past decade, which some critics point to as an erosion of confidence in Cuba’s one-party system as the country suffers a deep economic crisis.