As voters, collaborators and observers of the popular referendum on the Family Code, some 3,500 young people from Ciego de Ávila will begin their electoral life during the democratic process that will take place next Sunday, September 25, in 895 schools in this province.
The newcomers to the polls were trained in their educational centers (pre-university and polytechnic institutes, and university campuses) to exercise that constitutional right and, at the same time, achieve a more comprehensive education as citizens, Marleny Báez Valdivia, vice president of the Electoral Council Provincial, said.
The vice presidents of the Municipal Assemblies of People's Power and directors of Education emphasized the constitutional precepts referring to the matter, the particularities of Law 127 "Electoral Law" and the procedure with the ballot, the latter lacking in total novelty because the students have participated in electoral processes of student organizations, she specified.
With knowledge about the requirements that electoral colleges must meet in relation to the use of national symbols, orientation to citizens, cleanliness and organization, in a fundamental way, new voters can also act as collaborators and observers, she added.
She explained that, in the event of any irregularity, they would be able to inform the teachers who serve them through the popular council structures so that they report to the Municipal Electoral Councils, in order to resolve problems that may hinder the quality of the process.
Báez Valdivia highlighted the attention and seriousness shown by students from 44 centers of Technical-Professional, High School, and University education, which indicated the motivation aroused by the preparations and the commitment to the referendum.
Hernán Ricardo Machado Torres, vice president of the Federation of High School Students (FEEM) in the province of Ciego de Ávila, confirmed that after restarting the 2021-2022 school year, the preparation of students arriving at electoral age began, an opportunity to clarify doubts in relation to the content of the Code.
The main questions were associated with the custody and care of minors and same-sex marriage, although they showed interest in the entire bill, he explained.
The leaders of the FEEM have participated in the preparation of the electoral councils at different levels, which allows them to become socializing agents of the contents and respond to the concerns of the students, he argued.
Melany Cabrera Rodríguez, president of the FEEM at the José Antonio Echeverría Polytechnic Institute, in the main municipality, referred to the use of artistic resources to arouse interest and sensitize the new generations with this bill.
Fans of acting and members of the José Martí Brigade of Art Instructors have brought to the stage frequent conflicts in Cuban families and the proposals for solutions offered by the aforementioned regulations, she explained.
The creators of the FEEM intervene in the formation of political propaganda allusive to the referendum, in such a way that they ensure their placement in centers of different educational levels, some converted into electoral colleges, commented Rolando Javier Reyes, acting president of that organization in the municipality of Ciego de Avila.
She highlighted the links with law students at the Máximo Gómez Báez University, who have given educational talks at different educational institutions to increase knowledge about this law and clarify doubts.
It also provides the linking of these issues to the classes of different subjects and the availability of materials disseminated in the country so that the population could study and contribute to the construction of the bill.
The closing parade of the Summer Olympics and the "bike ride" this Saturday constituted other spaces for representations of the more than 10,000 FEEM students in the province -voters and non-voters- to reaffirm their support for the new Code of Families.
