海地首都太子港及其他地区周四启动选民登记，这标志着该国十多年来首次大选的关键步骤[1]。海地上一次举行大选已超过十年，自2021年7月总统若夫内尔·莫伊塞被杀后一直没有总统[1]。政府计划于12月13日同时举行选举和宪法公投[1]。
然而，猖獗的帮派暴力对这一选举进程构成严重威胁。帮派控制了太子港约70%的地区和通往中部及阿蒂博尼特省的主要道路[1]。帮派暴力已导致超过140万人流离失所[1]，暴力事件造成大量人员伤亡：2023年海地全年有超过5900人被杀，2024年1月至3月有超过1600人被杀[1]。海地人口超过50%居住在太子港、中部和阿蒂博尼特省三个受帮派控制最严重的地区[1]。
国际危机集团分析师迪亚戈·达·林指出"政府无法在帮派控制的领土上组织选举"[1]。分析人士警告，大量选民因暴力可能无法登记和投票[1]。此外，联合国报告上半年有5500起性别暴力事件，其中70%涉及强奸，许多是帮派轮奸[1]。
Haiti began voter registration on Thursday in the capital Port-au-Prince and other regions, marking a critical step toward the country's first general election in more than a decade [1]. The registration process represents an attempt to move forward with elections scheduled for December 13, despite extraordinary security challenges threatening the electoral process [1].
Gang violence poses a severe obstacle to the voting effort. Armed gangs control approximately 70 percent of Port-au-Prince and major roads leading to the Central and Artibonite provinces [1], regions where over 50 percent of Haiti's population resides [1]. The violence has already displaced more than 1.4 million people [1]. An analyst from the International Crisis Group cautioned that "the government cannot organize elections on gang-controlled territory" [1], underscoring doubts about the feasibility of holding meaningful elections under current conditions.
The security situation has deteriorated dramatically in recent years. Haiti recorded more than 5,900 homicides throughout 2023, with over 1,600 additional killings occurring between January and March 2024 [1]. The United Nations reported 5,500 cases of gender-based violence in the first half of the year, with 70 percent involving rape, many perpetrated as gang-led mass assaults [1]. Haiti has been without a president since Jovenel Moïse's assassination in July 2021 [1], and the government's December 13 plan to simultaneously conduct elections and a constitutional referendum remains poorly communicated to the public [1].