At stake in this election:

• The office of President of Haiti

Description of government structure:

• Chief of State: President Boniface ALEXANDRE *
• Head of Government: Prime Minister Gerald LATORTUE **
• Assembly: Haiti has a bicameral National Assembly (Assemblee Nationale) consisting of the Senate (Sénat) with 30 seats and the Chamber of Deputies (Chambre des Députés) with 99 seats.

* Boniface ALEXANDRE became president on 29 February 2004, when Jean-Bertrand ARISTIDE resigned as president.

** Prime Minister LATORTUE is an Interim PM.

Description of electoral system:

• The President is elected by absolute majority vote through a two-round system to serve a 5-year term.
• Prime Minister is appointed by the President.
• In the Senate (Sénat) 30 members are elected by absolute majority vote through a two-round system to serve 6-year terms*. In the Chamber of Deputies (Chambre des Députés) 99 members are elected by absolute majority vote in single-member constituencies to serve 4-year terms.**

* One-third of the Senate is elected every two years. There are 10 multi-member constituencies (each with three seats) corresponding to the country's departments.

** The National Assembly stopped functioning in January 2004 when the terms of all deputies and of two-thirds of sitting senators expired. No replacements have been elected and the President is currently ruling by decree. According to an electoral decree in September 2005, the assembly will increase in this election from 27 to 30 senators and from 83 to 99 deputies.

Main Candidates in the of the Presidential Election

• Rene PREVAL
  • Party: Lespwa
• Lesly Manigat
  • Party: RDNP
• Jean JEUNE
  • Party: Union
• Paul Denis
  • Party OPL

******** Alliance Démocratique (ALYANS) is an alliance between the Convention for Democratic Unity (Konvansyon Inite Demokratik KID), Parti populaire du Renouveau haïtien (PPRH) and PLD.

Last Presidential election:

• The last presidential election was held on 26 November 2000. Jean-Bertrand ARISTIDE was elected president with 92% of the vote.

Population and number of registered voters:

• Population: 9,409,479 (2006)
• Registered Voters: 3,533,430 (2006)

Gender Data:

·         Female Population: 4,759,777 (2006)

·         Is Haiti a signatory to CEDAW: Yes (17 July 1980)

·         Has Haiti ratified CEDAW: Yes (20 July 1981)

·         Gender Quota: Yes

·         Female candidates in this election: Yes

·         Number of Female Parliamentarians: 4 (Chamber of Deputies); 4 (Senate) following 2006 elections 

·         Human Development Index Position: 163 (2014)

·         Social Institutions and Gender Index (SIGI) Categorization: Medium (2014)

Disability Data:

·         Is Haiti a signatory to CRPD: No

·         Has Haiti ratified CRPD: Yes, accession (23 July 2009)

·         Population with a disability: 1,411,421 (est.)