For a whole generation of Haitians, December 13, 2026 will be the first time they ever stand in front of a ballot box. This guide walks through the day the way you will live it, from your front door to the moment your thumb is marked with ink, so that nothing in that room surprises you.
In short
You vote at the voting center assigned to you, with your valid CIN. Voting runs without interruption from 6 a.m. to 4 p.m. (art. 230); voters already queuing at 4 p.m. who have been identified are admitted to vote (art. 239). Inside, a three-member voting bureau runs the vote, a president, a vice-president and a secretary, and it must include at least one woman (art. 45). You receive one ballot for the popular ratification and one for each elected position, mark your choice behind the isoloir, deposit each ballot in the corresponding box, sign or leave a fingerprint beside your NINU on the attendance list, and have your thumb marked with indelible ink before your CIN is handed back.
Before you go
- Know your voting centre. The CEP sets up at least two voting centres per communal section, more where distance or numbers require it, and the list is posted at the BEC and BED offices at least 30 days before the vote (art. 218). Check where you are assigned before you leave home.
- Bring your CIN. The bureau verifies that you are registered and that you have your national identification card.
- Go early. Voting begins at 6 a.m. An early problem, a name that is difficult to find, a question about your bureau, or confusion about the center, is much easier to resolve when you are not racing against the clock.
Inside the voting center, step by step
- Find your bureau de vote. A voting center can contain several voting bureaus. Signs, staff and designated guides can help you find the one assigned to you.
- Present your CIN. Before allowing you to vote, the bureau verifies that you have not already voted, that you have your national identification card, and that your name appears on the bureau's attendance list (art. 235).
- Receive your ballots. You receive one ballot for the popular ratification, if applicable, and one ballot for each elected position being contested that day (art. 236).
- Enter the voting booth. Behind the isoloir, you mark your ballots privately. The secrecy of the vote protects your choice from outside pressure.
- Mark your choice clearly. The decree allows a cross or another unequivocal mark in the space reserved for the candidate, cartel, or other applicable choice (art. 237). Follow the instructions printed on the ballot.
- Deposit each ballot in the correct box. The vote is recorded by the insertion of the ballot into the box corresponding to that elected position (art. 238).
- Sign the attendance list. The secretary writes your NINU on the liste d'émargement and asks you to sign it or leave a fingerprint. If a fingerprint cannot be taken, the president of the bureau has a procès-verbal drawn up recording the fact (art. 235.1, added by the decree of 2 July 2026).
- Ink, then your card back. The secretary presents the indelible ink for the thumb of your right hand; failing that the left; failing a thumb, the other fingers in order. Only after that formality does the secretary return your CIN (art. 238, as modified on 2 July 2026).
What makes a ballot count, or not
The essential rule is simple: your intention must be clear. A ballot is valid when it contains a cross or another unequivocal mark indicating your choice in the space provided for the candidate, cartel or applicable option (art. 242). A ballot is declared null, and is not counted at all, when it is damaged, carries several choices, or carries marks that do not clearly indicate the voter's intention (art. 244).
The safest rule is therefore: make one clear choice and don't add anything unnecessary to the ballot. Follow the spaces and instructions provided on the official ballot.
The ballot also carries a box marked “no candidate” (aucun candidat), set at the bottom right and technically detachable (art. 220). Ticking it is a valid vote (art. 242), it is counted and reported, but it is never attributed to any candidate or cartel and never counts toward anyone's ranking (art. 243). It is the ballot's own way of letting you say none of the above without spoiling your paper.
For the constitutional ratification the rule is the same in a different shape: mark “Oui / Wi” or “Non” with a distinctive, unambiguous sign. Anything else makes that ballot null (art. 237.1).
Who is in the room
The voting bureau is composed of a president, vice-president and secretary. Together, they manage the voting operations and later conduct the count. The decree requires the three-member bureau to include at least one woman (art. 45), one of several places where the electoral framework carries the Constitution's 30 % principle (Constitution, art. 17-1) into the machinery of the vote itself.
Other authorized people may also be present, including accredited party representatives (mandataires) and accredited national and international observers. Their presence provides oversight of the process. The CEP also appoints electoral security agents at voting centres to help maintain order, protect electoral materials and prevent pressure on voters.
The room is meant to be politically bare. No member of the bureau, observer or mandataire may wear anything signalling a political allegiance inside the bureau, and no emblem, candidate photograph or other sign may be displayed inside the voting centre or immediately outside it (art. 225). No one may enter a voting centre carrying a firearm, a bladed weapon or anything else capable of harming the people present (art. 230).
What matters for you is simple: your vote is secret, and no one should determine your choice for you.
When voting closes
Voting normally runs continuously from 6 a.m. to 4 p.m. But 4 p.m. does not automatically mean that everyone still outside loses the right to vote. If, at 4 p.m., registered voters who have already been identified are still waiting in line at the entrance of the voting center, they are admitted to vote. The situation is recorded in the closing report.
Questions people ask
What time do the polls open and close?
Voting runs without interruption from 6 a.m. to 4 p.m. (art. 230). If you have been identified and are still in the queue at 4 p.m., you are admitted to vote (art. 239). See When voting closes.
What do I have to bring?
Your valid CIN. Before admitting you, the bureau checks that you have not already voted, that you have your card, and that your name is on the bureau's attendance list (art. 235). See Before you go.
How many ballots will I be given?
One for the popular ratification, if applicable, and one for each elected position being contested that day, one of each and no more (art. 236). Read: The constitutional ratification
What makes a ballot null?
A paper that is damaged, carries several choices, or carries marks that do not clearly show your intention (art. 244). One clean mark per ballot is the safest rule. See What makes a ballot count, or not.
Can I bring a weapon, or wear my party's colours?
No to both. No firearms or bladed objects may enter the centre (art. 230), and no political insignia may be worn inside the bureau or displayed in or immediately around the centre (art. 225). See Who is in the room.
What it changes in your daily life
Every guide in this series ends the same way for a reason: the offices are permanent, but the choosing takes one day. Ten minutes of your December 13, a card, a line, a booth, one clear choice per ballot, a thumb dipped in ink, is the entire mechanism by which everything else in this series gets decided. Walk in knowing the room, and the room belongs to you.