Today's Signal
Haiti's electoral campaign opens this week, on paper. The question is whether the country it covers is governable enough to vote.
Election campaign for the first round of legislative and presidential elections began May 19. First election since 2016. 23 communes still under armed group control.
The Provisional Electoral Council’s calendar quietly opened a new phase this week. Per the decree published in Le Moniteur, the campaign for the first round of Haiti’s general elections began Tuesday, May 19, and runs through August 28. Election Day is August 30. Final results October 3. The second round and local elections follow on December 6.
This is Haiti’s first attempt at general elections since 2016. The country has had no nationally elected officials since January 2023. The last elected president, Jovenel Moïse, was assassinated in July 2021. The Transitional Presidential Council that governs in the interim saw its original mandate expire in February 2026 — the body has been operating on extension.
The CEP’s own warning is the headline within the headline. 23 communes are currently under the control of armed groups: 12 in the Western department, 8 in Artibonite, 3 in the Centre, 1 in the Northwest. Voter registration is scheduled to run April 1 through June 29 — right now. The CEP president, Jacques Desrosiers, has said publicly that the restoration of security is a prerequisite for holding the first round. He has not said the elections will happen. He has said they cannot happen unless conditions improve dramatically. Those are different statements.
For the Haitian diaspora in New York, Miami, Montreal, and Paris, this is the moment when planning resumes. Whether to register for voting from abroad. Whether to return for any phase of the process. Whether to send funds for civic mobilization or wait. The diaspora has been carrying Haiti through three years without an elected government. The question now is whether the elected government to come will be one that earns that carrying.
CARICOM, the OAS, the EU, the UN, and the multinational security support mission are all formally engaged in funding and securing the process. None of them have committed to what happens if the August date slips again.
Source: Haitian Times, France 24, Caribbean National Weekly, Human Rights Watch World Report 2026, Americas Society/Council of the Americas