Haiti postpones December election timetable

Haiti’s Provisional Electoral Council has postponed the campaign period for the country’s December 13 general elections, extended the deadline for candidate registration to the end of October and said it is preparing a revised electoral calendar. The council has not announced a replacement date, leaving the schedule for the first elections since 2016 unresolved. The council said the changes would give candidates and political groups more time to complete required formalities and would account for technical and operational needs. A council member confirmed that December 13 no longer stands. The body said voter registration is continuing and that it will make a new timetable public as soon as possible. It did not specify when the updated schedule would be released. As of the week of October 7, 768,000 people had registered, just under 10% of the nearly 8 million eligible voters, according to figures reported by the council. The registration period was extended alongside the candidate deadline. The council’s announcement also postponed the campaign period, which had been part of the original timetable.