Cubans go to the polls on Sunday to vote for a new National Assembly marking a historic step in a process leading to the election of a new president outside the Castro family. More than eight million Cubans will vote to ratify two official lists of candidates - one to form the 605-member National Assembly and another to constitute the 14 provincial assemblies totaling 1,265 delegates. The new members of the National Assembly will be tasked with choosing a successor to 86-year-old President Raul Castro who steps down next month. Raul took over in 2006 from his ailing brother Fidel, who had governed since seizing power during the 1959 revolution, AFP reported. "Theyre the most important elections of recent years, because we are going to vote for new people who will govern from then on," day-care center guardian Ramon Perez told AFP. The designation of candidates is based on merit, abilities and the commitment of the people," Raul Castro said when he announced the elections last year. More than half of the candidates, 322, are women. First Vice-President Miguel Diaz-Canel, 57, is expected to become president, according to Reuters. "There will still be a president of Cuba in the process of defending the revolution," Canel said in November. Turnout for the election is expected to be around 90 percent, although voting is voluntary. Opposition criticism of the process centers around the fact that the president is not chosen in direct elections. For opposition, however, the only choice being not to vote for a certain candidate, leave blank or spoil one’s ballot.