Diaspora Minister registers to vote as Haiti's Government pushes citizens to join electoral rolls

J.E. Kathia Verdier, Haiti’s Minister of Haitians Living Abroad, registered as a voter this Wednesday for the country’s upcoming general elections, a personal gesture meant to reinforce a government-wide campaign, led by Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-Aimé, to get citizens onto the electoral rolls ahead of December’s vote. Fils-Aimé himself registered earlier this month and publicly called on citizens to do the same.

In a statement announcing her registration, Verdier framed the act as a reminder that participation in the democratic process starts before election day itself: voting is a right, but it begins with registration on the electoral list. She urged Haitians who meet the requirements not to stay home, stressing that every voice counts and that each citizen has a role to play in building a stronger, more democratic Haiti with a future for all its children.

Where the Process Stands

Verdier’s registration comes as Haiti’s Provisional Electoral Council (CEP) pushes forward with a voter registration window that opened July 20 in nine of the country’s ten departments, with the West department, home to Port-au-Prince and hit hardest by gang violence, added shortly after, once officials judged conditions there acceptable.

Registration runs through October 13, an 86-day window. The CEP has continued opening new registration and voting centers in the West department through early August, including 19 new centers announced on August 7, and has said it intends to open still more, including 20 in Pétion-Ville, considered one of the capital region’s safer areas.

The stakes are set: the CEP’s official calendar, published July 27, puts the first round of presidential, legislative, and constitutional referendum voting on December 13, 2026, with a second round, held alongside territorial and local elections, on February 21, 2027.