Haiti’s low voter registration rate underscores participation challenge for upcoming vote

PORT-DE-PAIX — Haiti’s voter registration drive is moving far more slowly than the Provisional Electoral Council’s own target, raising questions about whether the country can generate broad participation in elections scheduled for Dec. 13 and Feb. 21.

Nearly two months after registration began July 20, fewer than 600,000 people had registered across the country, according to the CEP’s latest figures. That represents roughly 7% of Haiti’s estimated 7.7 million people aged 18 and older.

The numbers leave the electoral governing body with a significant gap to close before registration ends Oct. 13. The council has said it hopes to register between 3 million and 4 million voters — roughly 35% to 50% of the voting-age population — during the 86-day registration period.

The challenge is larger than simply increasing the number of names on the voter roll. Haiti has not held a national election since 2016, when turnout was already historically low. Since then, repeated electoral calendars have been delayed or revised as political disputes, insecurity, natural disasters, funding shortages and institutional weaknesses have repeatedly disrupted efforts to restore elected government.

The current CEP calendar now calls for presidential and legislative elections Dec. 13, followed by a second round and local elections Feb. 21, 2027. But the council itself says those dates depend on establishing an acceptable security environment and securing the money needed to complete the electoral process.

With registration proceeding slowly and parts of the country still difficult or impossible to reach, the CEP faces a dual challenge: completing the technical work required to organize the vote while persuading millions of people who have lived through years of political instability and failed electoral timetables that participating is worthwhile.

Registration remains far below CEP target

None of Haiti’s 10 departments has registered 15% of its estimated voting-age population yet.

Artibonite and the North, two of the three largest portions of the national electorate, have been among the departments with the lowest registration rates, at roughly 5% each.

The CEP has been expanding registration centers and increasing staffing to bring the process closer to voters. On Sept. 1, the council opened a three-station registration and voting center at the Société Nationale des Parcs Industriels (SONAPI) to serve residents of Cité-Soleil, one of Port-au-Prince’s largest electoral districts, and surrounding areas.

The electoral council said the center was part of efforts to improve access, particularly in areas where security and transportation constraints make it difficult for residents to reach electoral services.

By early September, the electoral body said 1,293 of 1,418 planned registration centers were operational, with nearly 2,800 operators assigned to register voters.

At the opening of the SONAPI center, then-CEP President Jacques Desrosiers said more than 450,000 people had already registered, describing the progress as encouraging despite the gap between the number registered and the council’s broader objective.

The CEP has since undergone a leadership change. Peterson Pierre-Louis, the council’s former secretary-general, replaced Desrosiers as president of the electoral council on Sept. 8, but the nine-member council remains in place — including its bureau’s ex-president.

Millions have identification cards

The slow registration rate is notable because the country has already expanded access to the identification documents needed to register.

In 2025, Haiti’s National Identification Office (ONI) reported that about 6.3 million Haitians of voting age had valid national identification cards. The effort to make access to ID cards easier for people has been ongoing since then.

That figure suggested that a large majority of potentially eligible voters already had the principal identification document required to register.

Yet registration remains substantially below the CEP’s target.

“The discrepancy highlights the difference between having the legal and administrative ability to register and actually completing the process,” said Walter Bien-Aimé, a retired Haitian history and social studies teacher who now lives in South Florida.

“Security concerns, transportation costs, displacement, limited access to registration centers, lack of information and declining confidence in the political system can all affect whether eligible voters make the effort to register,” Bien-Aimé added.

The problem is particularly acute in areas where residents cannot safely travel or where electoral services remain unavailable.

The CEP launched registration July 20 in the administrative centers of nine departments, initially excluding the West because of security conditions. The council said it would expand operations as conditions allowed.

Haiti has a history of low electoral participation

The current registration figures are unfolding against a long history of weak voter participation.

In 2010, international observers estimated that fewer than 30% of Haiti’s roughly 4 million registered voters participated in the presidential election held after the Jan. 12 earthquake. The voting population had also been affected by deaths and migration following the disaster.

Participation remained low during the 2015 electoral cycle. The United Nations reported turnout of 26.6% in the Oct. 25, 2015 elections, which included the presidential and legislative contests. The first round of parliamentary elections held Aug. 9 had an even lower reported participation rate of about 18%.

The November 2016 presidential election— a rerun of the 2015 election voided due to fraud allegations— recorded more than 6.18 million registered voters, but only over 1.1 million ballots were cast — a turnout of about 18.1%. 

Those figures provide an important historical context for the current registration drive. The CEP is not starting from a country with a strong tradition of electoral participation. Instead, it is trying to rebuild participation after a decade without national elections and amid a security and humanitarian crisis that has further weakened citizens’ access to public institutions.

“For the CEP’s objective to be achieved, it must triple the given three-month period because the 86-day duration is in no way sufficient,” said Port-de-Paix resident, Gislaine Antoine, 53.

Nickson Fragélus, 49, another school teacher in Port-de-Paix, said the barriers to participation could have broader consequences.

“Participation will be low if there is no other alternative that would allow citizens to vote,” he told The Haitian Times.

Another calendar, another test for the CEP

The registration challenge also comes as the CEP attempts to deliver on an electoral calendar that has already changed.

The council’s earlier calendar, published under the 2025 electoral framework, set Aug. 30 as the date for the first round of presidential and legislative elections, with a second round and territorial elections scheduled for Dec. 6. The CEP explicitly conditioned that timetable on an acceptable security environment and sufficient financing.

That timetable was later replaced. On July 27, the CEP established Dec. 13 as the new date for the first round, with the second round and local elections scheduled for Feb. 21, 2027.

The repeated changes are part of a broader pattern. Haiti’s 2015 electoral cycle was marked by violence, allegations of irregularities and repeated postponements. The presidential runoff originally scheduled for December 2015 was postponed several times before the CEP canceled the Jan. 2016 vote amid escalating protests and security concerns. A new electoral council later ordered a rerun of the 2015 presidential election, which eventually led to the November 2016 vote.

The United Nations later documented how verifying the 2015 elections and deciding to rerun the presidential contest added further delays. The Oct. 9, 2016 election date was itself postponed after Hurricane Matthew struck Haiti.

“That history gives the current registration numbers greater significance,” Bien-Aimé said. “A calendar can set deadlines, but the CEP must translate those dates into functioning registration centers, an accurate voter roll, accessible polling locations, adequate financing, and sufficient security for voters, electoral workers, and political actors.”

The council’s current calendar, therefore, he added,  represents more than a timetable. It is another test of whether Haiti’s electoral institutions can convert an announced date into an election that citizens can safely access and that political actors and the public regard as credible.

Local electoral infrastructure remains uneven

In the Northwest, for instance, some of the practical challenges are visible at the institutional level.

Kerry Hyppolite, president of the Northwest Departmental Electoral Office (BED), said the department still lacks a central office and that five municipalities do not yet have Communal Electoral Offices (BEC).

Several voter registration centers are also located in public schools, creating an additional logistical challenge as schools reopen.

“In the Northwest, the BED does not yet have a permanent office. In addition, five municipalities [out of 10] still lack Communal Electoral Offices. On top of that, several registration centers are located in public schools, which are scheduled to reopen on Sept. 7,” Hyppolite said.

The CEP has continued training personnel and strengthening its decentralized structures. In late August, it completed training for members of the BEDs and BECs in nine departments, excluding the West, on electoral litigation procedures.

But these preparations must advance alongside voter registration, candidate registration, security planning and other stages of the electoral calendar.

For now, the CEP remains committed to the Dec. 13 first round.

Yet, the low registration numbers show how difficult it will be to translate the calendar into broad participation. The council has roughly one month left before voter registration closes, while the country must simultaneously address security, financing, infrastructure, public confidence and access to electoral services.

The experience of 2015 and 2016 offers a warning: Haiti has repeatedly announced electoral dates that later shifted as political, security or logistical conditions changed. The current calendar has already moved once.

Secretary of State for Communication Joseph Lucien Jura said during a visit to the Northwest that government institutions must prioritize the electoral process.

“It is necessary for institutions and government leaders to make electoral matters a priority. All state actors must play their part to make the elections possible,” Jura said.

He described elections as the principal mechanism for political renewal and ending the transitional period.

“Holding elections in Haiti is not an option; it is an obligation,” he said.

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