FAQs

On 13 December you are handed more than candidate ballots. One of them carries a single question about the Constitution and two boxes, green for yes and white for no. What the decree says about that ballot, how it is counted, what it does not tell you, and why your answer decides how long the people elected the same day will serve.

Two questions get merged and shouldn't be: whether you are Haitian, and whether you can vote. The decree does now provide for the diaspora to vote, for the president and the constitutional ratification only, but the order that would make it usable has not been published.

The most frightening sentence at a polling station is also the most preventable. The two dates that decide everything, where the lists are posted, the tribunal that fixes a wrong entry in twenty-four hours, what the bureau can and cannot do on the day, and the case where the honest answer is that it is too late.

The decree is far more specific than “report it through the proper channel”. It names a document, names who draws it up and who countersigns it, and seals it in the same envelope as the count. The incident record, the criminal channel, the electoral tribunals, and how to tell which one you need.

Nine members at the top, three in each departmental and communal office, and, this is the part that surprises people, three students drawn by lot in the room where your ballot is handled. Who they are, how they are chosen, what they may and may not do, and how to serve yourself.

Three different numbers can appear during an election season: official results, public-opinion polls, and community forecasts. Understanding what each measures helps you interpret election information without confusing a signal with a result.