HAVANA, March 12 (Xinhua) -- More than 7.3 million Cubans voted in the parliamentary elections held Sunday, which marks the start of a historic generational change in Cuba's leadership.
At a press conference Monday, Alina Balseiro, president of the National Electoral Commission (CEN), said 82.9 percent of the registered voters headed to polls and 605 lawmakers would be elected for the next five years.
"It was an intense voting day in which our people reaffirmed the principles of the Cuban electoral system ... " Balseiro told reporters, adding that the vote was a "triumph of the Cuban people."
According to official data, 53.22 percent of the legislative body are women, 13.22 percent are young people under 35 years old and 40.50 percent are blacks.
The elected lawmakers will meet on April 19 in Havana to vote for the 31 members of the Council of State, including its president, first vice president, five vice presidents, secretary and other members.
Raul Castro, the current president of the Council of State, who temporarily replaced his late brother Fidel Castro in 2006 and assumed office in 2008, has reiterated that he will step down after a decade in power.
Miguel Diaz-Canel, who is the current first vice president of the State Council, is expected to be Castro's successor. Diaz-Canel voted Sunday in his home province of Villa Clara, central Cuba.
Analysts believe that the election of Diaz-Canel, a 57-year-old engineer, would not bring about major changes in Cuba, because he has defended political continuity and the maintaining of the socialist model in the Caribbean island nation.
