January 29, 2026
The new electoral decree, now published in Le Moniteur, bars anyone under United Nations Security Council sanctions from participating in elections. These individuals lose not only the right to run for office at any level but also the right to vote, excluding them entirely from the democratic process.
The revised text strengthens voter eligibility requirements, notably by requiring that no voter be subject to any UN sanction. This excludes from the national system those already targeted by the UN, though sanctions by Washington or Ottawa do not trigger this exclusion.
Articles on the loss or suspension of voter status detail several grounds, from serious criminal convictions to electoral fraud. Added to these is the presence on the UN sanctions list, now sufficient to suspend electoral participation.
Eligibility for major offices—presidency, Senate, or Chamber of Deputies—incorporates the same restriction alongside requirements of residence, nationality, and public morality. Local offices are no exception: no UN-sanctioned candidate may run at any electoral level.
Among affected Haitians are individuals sanctioned for alleged involvement in insecurity, including several gang leaders and a former parliamentarian. The Port-au-Prince prosecutor’s office had already ordered their bank accounts frozen in June, in accordance with UN resolutions intended to counter organized crime.
