This page is the starting point of the whole learning center, and it is written to stand on its own. If you read only this, you will have the complete picture: the system, the offices, the rules, the dates, your rights. And at every step, a door opens toward a guide that goes deeper. Give it ten minutes. After that, no radio debate will ever lose you again.
In short
Haiti is a semi-presidential republic: an elected president is head of state; an appointed prime minister, whose government must win a vote of confidence in Parliament, is head of government. Citizens directly elect about 150 national officials (1 president + 30 senators + one deputy per district, 119 on the last published map) and thousands of local ones. National races run over two rounds, December 13, 2026 and February 21, 2027, while local races run over one round. The CEP organizes the entire process: registration, voting, counting, results and electoral disputes. To vote, you must be 18 or older, hold a valid CIN, and be registered by October 13, 2026.
The system: why two heads
The 1987 Constitution, written in the aftermath of dictatorship, refused to concentrate power in one pair of hands. So it split the executive in two (art. 133): the president, elected by the people, is head of state, representing the nation, promulgating laws and making high-level appointments; the prime minister, who is never directly elected, runs the government, the ministries, the budget and the day-to-day administration. The president chooses the prime minister from the party holding the parliamentary majority (art. 137), since 2011 that choice is no longer ratified by Parliament, and the government must then win a vote of confidence on its declaration of general policy, by absolute majority in each chamber (art. 158). A dissatisfied Parliament can censure the government and force its resignation (art. 129-4).
Keep the formula: the people elect the president and Parliament; the president and Parliament, together, produce the government. Your ballot therefore helps choose the prime minister, indirectly, but decisively. Read: The prime minister
The national offices: who does what
| Position | How selected | Number | Main role |
|---|---|---|---|
| President | Direct election | 1 | Head of state |
| Prime minister | Appointed, never elected | 1 | Head of government |
| Senators | Direct election | 30 | Upper house (3 per département) |
| Deputies | Direct election | 119 | Lower house (1 per circonscription) |
| Parliament | Senate + Chamber together | 149 seats | Makes laws, oversees government |
- The president serves a five-year term beginning February 7. The president cannot serve consecutive terms or more than two terms in a lifetime (art. 134-3). The president also cannot govern alone: most presidential acts require the government's countersignature, and Parliament cannot be dissolved (art. 111-8). Read
- Senators serve six-year terms and represent the territories: every département has three seats regardless of population. The Senate approves some of the state's most important appointments, including the police chief and ambassadors (art. 141), contributes to the composition of the Cour de Cassation (art. 175), and can sit as the High Court of Justice to try the highest officials (art. 185). Exceptionally, all 30 seats are in play this cycle because every term has expired. Read
- Deputies serve four-year terms and represent the population, one per circonscription. The Chamber of Deputies is where financial legislation starts, budgets and taxes are voted there first (art. 111-2), and it can bring down a government through a vote of no confidence (arts. 129-2 to 129-4) or impeach the president (art. 186). Read
The number to remember: 1 + 30 + 119 = 150 directly elected national officials.
One honest footnote on that arithmetic. The 30 senators are fixed by the Constitution, three per département (art. 94-1). The 119 deputies come from the district map annexed to the electoral decree of 1 December 2025. The decree now in force, of 2 June 2026, says the district list is in an annex (art. 181) that was not published with it, and the CEP has not confirmed a seat figure for this cycle. So read 119 as the last published number rather than a settled one.
How winning works
National races require a real majority. A candidate can win in the first round in two cases: the absolute majority, 50% of valid votes plus one, or a 25-point lead over the runner-up (art. 106 of the electoral decree; Constitution, art. 134 bis). Example with invented numbers: 47% against 20% creates a 27-point gap, the candidate wins without a runoff; 40% against 30% creates a 10-point gap, both return in February. On results night, the gap decides, not just the score. Senate races, with three seats in each département, may fill zero, one, two or all three seats in December; any remaining seats are decided in February.
Local races follow a different logic entirely: one round, February 21, and the list with the most votes wins, no runoff. February is not optional extra credit: it is the local races' only opportunity to decide their winners. Read: The two-round system
Local power: the government you can walk to
The Constitution recognises three territorial collectivities, the communal section, the commune and the département (arts. 61–62). In practice that means 10 départements, 146 communes and 571 communal sections. Each level has its own elected government, following the same basic pattern: an executive that acts and an assembly that oversees.
- The commune elects its municipal cartel, a slate of three whose head becomes mayor (arts. 66, 66-1). The mairie manages markets, streets, sanitation and local taxes, and can only be dissolved by a court, never by the central government (art. 72). Read
- The communal section, the Republic's smallest territorial unit, elects its CASEC, a three-member executive whose members must continue to live in the section (art. 65), and its ASEC, the assembly that oversees it. Read
The indirect pyramid: where your local vote travels
From those local votes, the Constitution builds entire levels of the state without ever returning to the ballot box: each ASEC sends a representative to the municipal assembly (art. 67); each municipal assembly sends one representative to the departmental assembly (art. 80), which elects the departmental council (art. 78); the departmental assemblies designate the interdepartmental council, which sits in the Council of Ministers with a deliberative vote on decentralization matters (art. 87). The same assemblies prepare the lists used to appoint justices of the peace and lower-court judges (art. 175). The pyramid used to climb one rung higher, until 2011 the departmental assemblies also proposed the names for the Permanent Electoral Council, but the amended art. 192 now gives those nine seats to the executive, the Superior Council of the Judicial Power and the National Assembly, three each. Your ASEC vote is still the only direct vote you cast into that pyramid: the smallest ballot with the longest reach. Read: The ladder
Who organizes: the CEP
The Provisional Electoral Council, currently nine members, oversees the entire cycle: it runs voter registration, publishes candidate lists, organizes election day, supervises counting and tabulation, publishes results, and handles electoral disputes through its electoral tribunals, the BCEC in the commune, the BCED in the department, the BCEN nationally (decree, arts. 5 and 268). Pamelection is independent of the CEP and cites its official publications.
Becoming a voter: three steps, three dates
- The CIN. The national identification card, issued free of charge by the ONI, is the key to the entire process: without it, there is no registration and no vote.
- Registration. Register at a registration and voting center (CIV) by October 13, 2026. Where you register is where you will vote.
- Verification. The electoral lists are published on November 13: check your name and voting center while corrections are still possible.
Every Haitian aged 18 or older may vote (Constitution, art. 17), voting is also considered a civic duty (art. 52-1). Read: Registering and the CIN
Voting day, in one minute
With your CIN, at your assigned center: your name is checked, you receive one ballot for each race, you enter the booth alone, and you make one clean mark per ballot, a damaged paper, two choices, or marks that do not clearly show your intention make the ballot null (art. 244). You deposit it in the ballot box, sign the register, and receive indelible ink: proof that you voted, never a record of your choice. Counting begins immediately, in the same room, in the presence of party representatives and accredited observers. Read: Voting day
After the vote: how results are decided
Each polling bureau records its results in a procès-verbal. The data is transmitted immediately by electronic means, while the sealed documents are transported under escort (arts. 37, 39). Tabulation verifies each PV before any official figure is published: preliminary results are published on December 19, opening the legal challenge period before the electoral tribunals; final results, the only results with legal force, are published on January 9, 2027. The vocabulary to remember: after December 19, a candidate is leading; only after January 9 is anyone officially elected. And when you hear a fraud allegation, ask the civic question: Was a challenge filed, where, and with what evidence? Read: Preliminary vs. final
Your rights, in four lines
- Your vote is secret, protected by law (art. 2), and no one has the right to ask whom you voted for.
- Vote free from pressure, security personnel at the center are tasked with preventing coercion against voters (art. 49).
- Voting is accessible, accessibility is guaranteed, and ballots carry photographs and emblems so that reading is not a barrier (art. 5).
- No one can buy your vote, the buyer can never verify your choice; the secrecy of the booth makes the transaction impossible to enforce. Read: Your rights
And the diaspora?
The decree now provides for Haitians abroad to vote, on the constitutional ratification and for the President only, in diaspora communities identified by the CEP (art. 384). But the order fixing the places and procedures has not been published (art. 385), so for now there is no registration channel and no polling place abroad; voting still requires a CIN, timely registration and presence in Haiti. Dual nationality does not remove the right to vote, though it does bar candidacy for president, deputy and senator. The diaspora's surest influence remains information, passing a single deadline to a relative can literally make someone a voter. Read: The diaspora
The two dates
| Date | What happens |
|---|---|
| December 13, 2026 | First round: presidential and legislative elections. The CEP's calendar also places the popular ratification of proposed constitutional changes on this date. |
| February 21, 2027 | Runoffs + all local elections, their one and only round. |
The CEP conditions these dates on security and financing; if they move, the sequence remains the same. Read: The full calendar
Where to go next
- First-time voter? Start with Registering and the CIN, then Voting day.
- Want to understand every office? Start with The president and work your way down the ladder.
- Results season? Read The count and Myth vs. fact.
- Stuck on a term? Consult The glossary, A to Z.
Questions people ask
What do I need to do before I can vote?
Three things, each with a deadline: hold a valid CIN, register at a CIV by 13 October 2026, and check your name and centre on the list published on 13 November. See Becoming a voter: three steps, three dates.
What am I voting on, and when?
13 December 2026: president, senators, deputies, plus the constitutional ratification. 21 February 2027: the national runoffs and the single round of all the local races. See The two dates.
Why can't I vote for the prime minister?
Because the executive has two heads: the people elect the president, and the president chooses a prime minister whose government must win Parliament's confidence (arts. 133, 137 and 158). See The system: why two heads.
Can Haitians abroad vote?
The decree provides for it, for the ratification and the presidency only, but the order fixing the places and procedures has not been published (arts. 384 and 385). Read: Can the diaspora vote?
What it changes in your daily life
Haiti's first election in a decade is expected to fill around 150 national offices and thousands of local ones through two dates, one electoral referee and millions of individual choices. Many people will experience the election as a flood of noise and debate. You now have the full map, and every guide in this learning center is another room in the building, ready whenever you want to explore further.