Haiti Elections: Elections: Basic Facts and Resources

Dates:

Elections in Haiti are scheduled to happen on three dates in 2015: August 9, October 25 and December 27.

Voting dates (jours de scrutin):

o 9 Aug – 1^st round for 2/3 of Senat and 118 Deputies (Chambre de Députés)

o 25 Oct – 2^nd round legislative and 1^st round presidential and local

o 27 Dec – 2^nd round presidential (if needed)

Dates results published:

o 19 Aug – preliminary 1st round legislative

o 8 Sep – final 1st round legislative

o 3 Nov – preliminary 1st round presidential

o 7 Nov – preliminary 2nd round legislative

o 15 Nov – final 1st round presidential

o 22 Nov – final 2nd round legislative

o 30 Nov – preliminary local

o 31 Dec – final local

o 17 Jan - Final 2nd round presidential

Background:

The administration of President Michel Martelly came to power in 2011 through deeply flawed elections with outsized involvement by powerful countries outside Haiti. This administration proposed several Provisional Electoral Councils (CEPs) to oversee elections between 2012 and 2014, none of which met constitutional requirements, and none of which were approved by Parliament. As a result, no elections have been held since President Martelly took office, though legislative elections were constitutionally required in 2011 and 2013.

As a result of these election delays, the terms of all but 10 members of Parliament expired on January 12, 2015. With Parliament unable to act, President Martelly began governing without parliamentary oversight, in violation of the Haitian Constitution. A new CEP, regarded by most stakeholders as credible, has been established to administer presidential, legislative and local elections this year. In these elections, Haitian voters will elect over 5,000 public officials, including a new President, 20 Senators, 118 Deputies and thousands of local officials.

Source: http://www.ijdh.org/fair-elections/

For a detailed 2006-2015 timeline see: http://haitielection2015.blogspot.co.uk/2015/04/blog-post_21.html

Territorial Division:

There are 10 Departments in Haiti. These are:

Artibonite

Centre (Center)

Nord (North)

Nord Est (North-East)

Nord Ouest (North-West)

Grand Anse

Sud (South)

Sud Est (South-East)

Nippes

Ouest (West)

The list of all voting centers in each of the departments is available here

Voting regulations:

President

Michel Martelly is Haiti’s current President. He took his office on May 14, 2011.

Chapter III Section A (Articles 134 and 135) of the 1987 Constitution of Haiti specifies the qualifications for the presidency.

The President is elected to a five-year term. The President is not to be elected twice in a row; he may serve a second term only after an interval of five years, and can not run for a third term

Full list of presidential candidates is available here

Chambre de Députés

Constituencies: 99 single-member constituencies.

Term: 4 years

Voting system: Majority: Two-round system.

To win a seat in the first round, candidates must obtain 50 per cent of the valid votes, or have a 25 percentage point lead over the second-place candidate. An absolute majority is no longer required in the second round.

Full list of Deputy candidates is available here

Source: http://www.ipu.org/parline-e/reports/2137_B.htm

Senate

Members (statutory / current number) : 30 / 20

Mode of designation: directly elected 30

Term: 6 years; one-third of the membership is renewed every 2 years

Notes: Due to successive election delays, the mandate of all the members of the Chamber of Deputies as well as 20 members of the Senate expired on 12 January 2015.

The first round of parliamentary elections has been scheduled to take place on 9 August 2015 and the second round on 25 October. The elections are for terms of approximately six years and four years

Full list of candidates for the Senate is available here

Source: http://www.ipu.org/parline-e/reports/2138_A.htm