By ANITA SNOW
Associated Press

HAVANA -- Cuba's Communist Party said Monday that more than 97 percent of voters showed overwhelming support for the nation's socialist system by electing
609 candidates who ran uncontested for parliament.

While Fidel Castro and millions of other Cubans voted in Sunday's general elections, many dissidents labeled the process a farce and refused to participate.

About 8.1 million of Cuba's 8.2 million registered voters went cast ballots, prompting the Communist Party daily Granma on Monday to declare the elections
``overwhelming proof of popular support for the nation, the revolution and socialism.''

There was no immediate word on what percentage of ballots were deposited either spoiled or blank, a sign of protest during elections here. Several leading dissident
groups encouraged voters to protest either by abstaining or by spoiling or leaving their ballots blank.

``We are perfecting our revolutionary and socialist democracy,'' Castro told hundreds of cheering supporters during a lengthy address after voting in the eastern city
of Santiago.

He later told reporters the island's dissident movement had been manufactured by the United States, saying Washington wanted to ``destroy our nation, but had not
been able to.''

``This is an important day for all of Cuba,'' Vice President Carlos Lage said after voting in his neighborhood.

Lage called Cuba's elections ``truly democratic and free'' because candidates here do not spend huge amounts of money on campaigns.

Since all the candidates ran unopposed, voters either could mark or leave blank the circle next to each name on their ballot. Several leading dissident groups
announced they would not vote and called on others to abstain or annul a ballot by marking it incorrectly or casting it blank.

In an unusual protest Saturday evening, dissident Mayelin Cedeno erected a sign outside her Havana home reading, ``No to the electoral farce. No to the vote. No
to more of the same.''

``It occurred to me after hearing Castro on the television. He said that in Cuba there is democracy and that's not true,'' Cedeno said. ``Voting is practically obligatory
to keep from being humiliated.''

About 100 neighbors crowded outside Cedeno's home in their own protest, chanting pro-government slogans and waving signs reading ``Viva Fidel!''

All Cubans over 16 can vote, and though it is not obligatory, pressure to participate is high. Many Cubans say they would rather vote than be scolded by a relative,
neighbor or co-worker.

Castro was among the candidates seeking re-election to the National Assembly. He has led Cuba for 44 years, initially as premier and now as president.

In May, opposition leaders delivered a petition with 11,020 signatures demanding election reforms, but the government has ignored the so-called Varela Project.

Castro became irritated by a reporter's question Sunday about the initiative, saying, ``Let's talk about serious things, not silliness.''

Parliament's duties include approving laws proposed by Cuba's ruling Council of State, headed by Castro. It also reconfirms Castro's presidency on the council in
the weeks after the general elections.

A first round of balloting in October elected members of Cuba's municipal assemblies.

The other half include many internationally known figures, such as Juan Miguel Gonzalez, father of Elian, the Cuban boy at the heart of the international child custody
battle in 2000 and folk singer Silvio Rodriguez.

Gonzalez voted in Cardenas, a coastal community about a two-hour drive east of Havana where he and his son live.

As Gonzalez was interviewed by Cuban state television, Elian could be seen in the background, dressed in his school uniform and guarding the election urns with
several other schoolchildren _ an election day tradition here.

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