CEP Sets 30,000-Member Minimum for Parties to Field Candidates in August 2026 Elections

Haiti's Provisional Electoral Council (CEP) announced on May 6, 2026 that political parties must have a minimum of 30,000 registered members to be eligible to field candidates in the planned August 30, 2026 general elections. CEP President Jacques Desrosiers described the measure as 'a strictly technical consideration and not political,' arguing it would ensure that only parties with genuine organizational capacity participate. The announcement comes against the backdrop of significant electoral uncertainty: voter and candidate registration were postponed indefinitely on April 8, 2026, pending a new government electoral decree still not issued as of early May 2026, while security experts warn that 23 communes remain entirely inaccessible to electoral workers due to gang control. The CEP had previously approved 320 parties on March 26, 2026; the new 30,000-member threshold would substantially reduce the pool of eligible parties. The August 30, 2026 election date was established by international consensus as the mechanism to restore democratic governance after the Transitional Presidential Council's mandate expired on February 7, 2026. Independent analysts and civil society groups note the combination of postponed registration, unfunded logistics, gang control of over 75–90% of Port-au-Prince, and the unresolved electoral decree make the August 30 target date increasingly unrealistic.