Knowing who to vote for is not enough, you also need to know where. The Provisional Electoral Council has published the official list of registration and voting centres (CIV). At the time of this update that list contains 1,406 centres across the ten departments. The number moves as the CEP opens, relocates or adjusts centres, so treat it as a snapshot rather than a settled figure.
In short
A CIV is where you registered and where you will vote, the two functions sit in the same building. The CEP establishes at least two voting centres per communal section, and more where the number of voters or the distances involved require it; the list must be posted at the BEC and BED offices at least thirty days before the vote (decree, art. 218). Your centre is determined by your registration, not by where you happen to be that morning. Inside the centre, your voting bureau is determined by the list your name appears on. Check both, and check again shortly before 13 December 2026.
What is a CIV?
The name says it: a Centre d'inscription et de vote does two jobs. During the registration period it is where eligible citizens are entered on the electoral register (decree, art. 58). On polling day it houses the voting bureaux where ballots are actually cast.
Centres are placed in buildings people already know how to find, national schools, lycées, church schools, town halls and other public premises. That is deliberate: a voting centre nobody can locate is a voting centre nobody uses.
How centres are organised
Each centre is attached to a commune and, in most cases, to a specific section communale, the territorial level closest to residents. Centres located in the town itself are marked Ville in the CEP's list.
The official addresses often end with a local landmark in Kreyòl, “Anfas DGI”, “Piwo mache tante a”, because that is how people in the neighbourhood actually navigate. Those are not sloppy addresses; they are the useful ones.
How to find yours
You have three routes, in order of authority.
- The CEP's official list, searchable by department and commune. This is the authoritative source and should be your first reference.
- Pamelection's “Where do I vote?” tool, which presents the same official data in a simpler form, commune by commune and section by section. We do not assign voters to centres and we do not replace the CEP's information.
- The CEP's own channels closer to the vote, which will specify how voters are allocated to bureaux inside each centre.
The CEP has told eligible citizens to register at the CIV nearest their home or at another CIV of their choice. What governs polling day is simply where you are registered, which is why the centre you chose in July is the one you are bound to in December.
Your centre is not the same thing as your bureau
One CIV can contain several bureaux de vote, each serving a slice of the electoral list. The centre gets you to the right building; your name determines the room.
The decree provides for this in practical terms: the list of bureau members is posted at least twenty-two days before the vote (art. 219), and on the day the bureau numbers and the voter lists for each bureau are legibly displayed on the walls, with staff on hand to direct people (art. 228). An electronic version of the bureau-level voter list is available on the CEP's website (art. 70).
So do not simply arrive at a building and assume any bureau inside will do. Find your name, find your number, follow the signs.
Do not assume today's list is final
This matters more than usual in 2026, because the network is still being built out. On 7 August the CEP announced 19 additional CIVs in the Ouest department; on 13 August, another 32.
A centre listed today may not be the one used for your vote. Two habits cover you:
- Check your centre early, so you know where you are expected to go.
- Check again in the days before 13 December 2026, in case the list or your assignment has moved.
Any centre information Pamelection displays carries the date of the CEP list it came from, so you always know which version you are looking at.
Questions people ask
What is the difference between my centre and my bureau?
The centre is the building you go to, fixed by where you registered. The bureau is the room inside it, fixed by which list your name appears on. Check both. See Your centre is not the same thing as your bureau.
Can I vote at whichever centre is closest on the day?
No. Your centre is determined by your registration, not by where you happen to be that morning. See What is a CIV?
Is the published list of centres final?
Not necessarily. The CEP opens, relocates and adjusts centres, so check again in the days before 13 December in case your assignment has moved. See Do not assume today's list is final.
Where is the official list posted?
At the BEC and BED offices, at least thirty days before the vote (art. 218), and on the CEP's website. See How to find yours.
What to remember
Your voting place comes from your registration and your official assignment. The CEP is the authoritative source for the CIV network and for voter allocation. Everything else, including our tools, exists to make that information easier to read.
If anything we show differs from the CEP, the CEP prevails. And because the network is still being deployed, checking once is not enough.
Knowing the building is half of it. The other half is knowing which races will be on the paper you are handed inside it, which depends on the same registration. Read: What's actually on your ballot