Overview:
Haiti’s Provisional Electoral Council (CEP) has extended online candidate registration and the submission of required documents to Oct. 31 following consultations with political actors and amendments to the June 2 electoral decree approved by the Council of Ministers. The CEP also postponed the start and end of the official campaign and said it would soon publish a revised electoral calendar.
PORT-AU-PRINCE — Haiti’s Provisional Electoral Council (CEP) has postponed the start of the official electoral campaign and extended the deadline for candidates to register and submit required documents to Oct. 31, adding new uncertainty to an already long-delayed election process.
The CEP said in a statement that the decision followed consultations with political actors and the Monday Council of Ministers’ adoption of amendments to the June 2 Electoral Decree. The council said the additional time would allow candidates and political organizations to complete required formalities.
“This measure is intended in particular to allow candidates and the political structures concerned to have the necessary time to complete the formalities required under the legal and regulatory framework in force,” the CEP said.
PROLONGATION DE LA PÉRIODE D’INSCRIPTION EN LIGNE DES CANDIDATS ET AJUSTEMENT DE CERTAINES ÉCHÉANCES DU PROCESSUS ÉLECTORAL https://t.co/s98gKW7tTF
— CEP HAITI (@cep_haiti) October 6, 2026
The electoral governing body has not yet announced new campaign dates. It did not confirm whether Dec. 13 will still be maintained for the first round of votes, but said it is preparing a revised electoral calendar that will incorporate changes to the electoral decree and the process’s technical and operational requirements.
The development matters because Haiti has not held national elections since 2016, and the electoral process is unfolding amid persistent political disputes, organizational delays and a severe security crisis. The calendar published in July set the first round of presidential and legislative elections for Dec. 13, with a second round scheduled for Feb. 21, 2027. The CEP has not officially announced a new date for the first round, but the latest changes mean the previously published timetable is no longer being followed in full.
Campaign postponed as calendar, electoral degree remain under review
The candidate registration period had been scheduled to close Oct. 9. The CEP has now extended both online registration and the deadline for submitting required documents through Oct. 31.
The campaign period, which was scheduled to begin Oct. 5, has also been postponed. The CEP said it will announce the new start and end dates later as part of an updated calendar to be finalized in consultation with political organizations authorized to participate in the elections.
Long distances, poor roads and high transportation costs could keep thousands of rural residents from registering ahead of national elections
“The Provisional Electoral Council is actively working to finalize an updated electoral calendar, taking into account the new provisions of the Electoral Decree, as well as the technical and operational requirements of the process,” the council said.
The latest changes follow repeated adjustments to the electoral timetable. In September, the CEP had already extended candidate registration to Oct. 9 after political parties and groups requested additional time.
The CEP has also faced criticism from political actors over the pace and management of the electoral process.
André Michel of the Coalition of Republican Forces criticized the government’s Oct. 5 resolution affirming its neutrality in the electoral process, calling it demagoguery and arguing on X that Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-Aimé had already launched his own political platform.
La résolution adoptée ce Lundi soir en Conseil des Ministres garantissant la neutralité du Gouvernement dans le processus électoral relève de la DÉMAGOGIE. Alix D Fils-Aimé a déjà lancé sa propre plateforme Politique. Alix D Fils Aimé pran tout moun pou MAKAK !
— Me. André Michel (@avokapepla) October 6, 2026
The government has said the resolution is intended to reaffirm its neutrality as preparations for the elections continue under the CEP’s independent purview.
Meanwhile, several Haitian media outlets have reported possible changes to the electoral decree, including eliminating some documents required of candidates, requiring interim executive agents who intend to run for office to resign, introducing online voter registration and changing certain post-election deadlines.
According to those reports, the proposed changes include removing requirements for candidates to submit certificates from the Bank of the Republic of Haiti (BRH), the National Old-Age Insurance Office (ONA) and the Industrial Development Fund (FDI), as well as a medical certificate; requiring interim city mayors who intend to run for office to resign; authorizing online voter registration through the CEP platform; postponing the elections to next year; and setting Feb. 7, 2028, as the swearing-in date for the newly elected officials.
But authorities have not yet confirmed those amendments.
Number of registered candidates and voters
As of Oct. 6, preliminary CEP data showed 12 presidential candidates, 271 Senate candidates, 852 Chamber of Deputies candidates and about 1,670 local election candidates, including mayoral and communal section administration contestants. The CEP cautions that these figures are preliminary and that it will publish the final list of approved candidates after verifying and validating applications.
The CEP also said voter registration remains open and encouraged eligible Haitians to complete the necessary procedures to participate in the upcoming elections.
The number of registered voters and the geographic distribution of voter registration have been key indicators of the electoral process, particularly as security and access constraints have complicated registration operations in parts of the country— particularly in the Port-au-Prince metropolitan area and the lower Artibonite Department, which have a large share of the electorate.
Nearly three months after registration began, just over 768,000 people have registered across Haiti’s 10 departments, according to the CEP’s latest figures. That represents roughly about 10% of the country’s estimated 7.7 million people aged 18 and older.
Security remains a major obstacle
The electoral changes come as Haiti continues to face widespread insecurity that could affect the organization and credibility of any nationwide vote.
Speaking before the U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva on Oct. 2, High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk said his office had recorded at least 5,700 people killed or injured in Haiti between Jan. 1 and Sept. 11 in violence involving gangs or operations against them. He also reported more than 230 kidnappings and more than 1,000 women and girls subjected to sexual violence during the period.
Türk has emphasized the importance of elections as part of restoring constitutional governance while warning that Haiti’s security conditions pose serious challenges to holding a credible vote.
The U.N. Security Council has also extended the mandate of the multinational Gang Suppression Force (GSF) through March 2027 as international efforts continue to address Haiti’s security crisis. The force remains well below its planned strength of 5,500 officers, adding another challenge to efforts to create conditions for elections.
For now, the CEP has left the campaign dates open and has not officially replaced Dec. 13 as the date for the first round. The next major marker will be the publication of the revised electoral calendar, which is expected to clarify whether the existing timetable can still be maintained or will require further changes.
