Haiti launches voter registration in nine departments, excluding West due to insecurity

PORT-AU-PRINCE — Haiti’s Provisional Electoral Council (CEP) has launched voter registration in nine of the country’s 10 departments, excluding the West Department, the country’s political and economic center, leaving the electoral process without its largest concentration of voters.

The council said the West Department was excluded because armed gangs continue to restrict movement, disrupt the normal functioning of public institutions and make election operations unsafe. The absence of the West Department presents one of the greatest logistical challenges for the electoral process. The department includes the capital, Port-au-Prince, and its large metropolitan area, home to a significant share of Haiti’s electorate.

“The CEP intends to continue assessing the situation in the most appropriate manner, with a view to gradually extending voter registration operations under acceptable conditions of security, accessibility, and efficiency,” the council said in a statement.

The registration campaign, which began Monday, July 20, marks another step toward organizing Haiti’s first national elections in a decade after years of political instability and repeated delays. However, the process has renewed concerns over whether credible elections can be held while large portions of the country remain under the control of violent armed groups and authorities have yet to publish a comprehensive electoral calendar.

Originally scheduled to begin April 1 for voters and April 13 for candidates, the registration process was postponed amid deteriorating security conditions. The CEP resumed operations this week following the approval of eligible political parties. The institution continues technical preparations while awaiting improved security to expand the process nationwide.

Voters in the nine participating departments are being asked to register at Registration and Voting Centers  (CIV) using a valid national identification card.

Critics question progress without an electoral calendar

The voter registration campaign follows several recent steps by the CEP, including approving 316 political parties, opening registration for political coalitions, recruiting electoral personnel and security agents, and drafting a proposed $120 million election budget that has yet to receive final approval.

Despite those advances, civil society organizations and political groups say the electoral process still lacks one essential element: an official electoral calendar detailing key deadlines and milestones.

Human rights organization Collectif Défenseurs Plus called the council’s latest actions an “electoral charade,” arguing that authorities have begun registering political parties, coalitions and voters without first publishing a complete electoral timetable or restoring adequate security.

“An election organized in a climate of fear and exclusion can neither produce credible results nor strengthen democracy,” the organization said in a July 21 statement. “We also regret that the authorities have already initiated certain stages of the electoral process even though no detailed electoral calendar has been made public. The failure to publish this document undermines the principles of transparency.”

Political organization Chemin Délivrance also criticized the CEP, saying the absence of a public calendar raises questions about whether authorities can realistically meet the deadlines leading to elections.

Those concerns were echoed internationally.

Addressing the U.N. Security Council on July 20, Carlos Ruiz Massieu, the U.N. secretary-general’s special representative for Haiti and head of the U.N. Integrated Office in Haiti (BINUH), urged Haitian authorities to publish a realistic and credible electoral calendar while continuing preparations.

“Security challenges must not become a reason to delay the political process,” Massieu said. “Electoral preparations and security improvements must advance together to sustain the momentum.”

“I am convinced that Haitian stakeholders can work together to advance the transition and create the conditions for credible elections,” he added.

Yet, security remains the biggest obstacle

While voter registration is underway, security continues to pose the greatest challenge to holding nationwide elections.

CEP President Jacques Desrosiers has repeatedly said elections cannot be conducted in more than 20 municipalities where armed gangs remain active. Many polling stations are now inaccessible, and hundreds of thousands of registered voters have been displaced by violence.

According to the United Nations, gangs continue to control much of the Port-au-Prince metropolitan area and beyond, while expanding their influence into the Artibonite and Centre departments. More than 1.5 million residents have been displaced by the crisis of violence.

Haitian authorities and international partners maintain that security improvements and electoral preparations must move forward simultaneously. Much of that strategy depends on the full deployment of the U.N.-backed Gang Suppression Force (GSF), which is expected to help Haitian security forces regain control of territory held by armed groups.

Speaking before the U.N. Security Council, Foreign Affairs Minister Raina Forbin said that restoring security remains essential to organizing democratic elections throughout the country and urged the international community to continue supporting Haiti’s stabilization efforts, including by renewing the GSF’s mandate, which is set to expire on Sept. 30.

“It is not the time to step back,” Forbin told council members, touting progress. “We are closer than we have been in years to organizing free, credible, inclusive and participatory elections.”

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