Dr Christopher Sabatini, Director, Latin America Programme
Johannes Hamels, Haiti Country Director, National Democratic Institute
In early October 2026, Haiti’s Conseil Electoral Provisoire (CEP) announced the cancellation of campaigning for the presidential and parliamentary elections due to be held on 13 December. No new election date was confirmed, but postponement appears likely.
This policy paper argues that elections held too soon, and under current conditions, could lead to further instability in Haiti. The CEP’s intervention is an opportunity to shift the focus from meeting an arbitrary deadline to establishing a realistic electoral timetable and process.
The paper makes the case for prioritizing agreement on a detailed framework for the electoral process and specific benchmarks for assessing progress. It identifies four areas for attention – the scale and representativeness of voter registration; independent and robust mechanisms for vetting candidates; secure, transparent and efficient procedures for collecting and tabulating votes; and minimum security conditions for a safe electoral process – and makes detailed recommendations on each.
Summary
- – In July 2026, Haiti’s Provisional Electoral Council (CEP) announced 13 December 2026 as the date for the first round of presidential and parliamentary elections. On 6 October, however, the CEP confirmed that the start of the official campaign period was cancelled, implying that a revised electoral timetable was being prepared. A new election date has still to be announced, if that is indeed the plan.
- – It has been 10 years since elections were last held in Haiti and the country has been led by a variety of fragile interim governments since 2021. According to a May 2026 survey for Chatham House by Q-Q Research Consultants, nearly 90 per cent of respondents believed elections were important to the country’s future and 82 per cent believed they should be held before the end of 2027.1 It is understandable that Haitians want elections to take place soon. But the conditions for a credible and secure ballot are not yet in place.
- – The CEP’s intervention offers an opportunity to shift the focus from meeting an arbitrary deadline to establishing a credible revised electoral timetable and process, including public consultations on constitutional reform.
- – Achieving a workable timeline will require the identification of the specific goals and benchmarks for logistical, security and technical areas that are still lacking. Four areas in particular must be addressed: the scale and representativeness of voter registration, including across geographic areas, gender and age groups; independent and robust mechanisms for vetting candidates, both for the forthcoming presidential and parliamentary elections and for future electoral cycles; secure, transparent and efficient procedures for collecting and tabulating votes; and minimum security conditions for the electoral process, so that candidates – especially women – can campaign safely, voters can cast their ballots free from intimidation, and election workers can carry out their duties without fear of harm.
- – The effort must be led and owned by Haitians. But ensuring that the Haitian government and the CEP stick to those goals and benchmarks will require a coordinated international response to ensure progress is maintained. An international pre-election assessment mission that produces a public report on those and other issues before the end of 2026 could help Haitian authorities in building a credible foundation for the election process.