South Sudan has postponed its first national elections since independence, moving the vote from 22 December 2026 to 11 February 2027 in a third delay that underlines how far the world’s youngest nation remains from a settled political transition.
The National Elections Commission announced the revised timetable on Saturday, 14 November. Presidential and parliamentary elections had been scheduled for December, more than 15 years after South Sudan separated from Sudan in July 2011. The commission gave no reason for the change, saying only that the extra time would allow it to complete preparations, including voter registration, the distribution of election materials and the establishment of polling infrastructure.
Commission spokesperson Josephine Achiro Fortelo confirmed the new date, telling Reuters it followed “a thorough consultation with the stakeholders”. The commission’s secretary general, Ahon Malou Lueth, also confirmed the change but, like Fortelo, would not give a reason or further details.
Under the revised calendar, voter registration runs from 14 to 28 November across 3,161 centres in the country’s ten states and three administrative areas. A provisional register is due on 29 November, with the final register scheduled for publication on 9 January. Candidate nominations are set for December, campaigns will run for 45 days from 27 December to 9 February, and 10 February will be a campaign silence day before polling on 11 February. Counting and announcement of results at polling centres is scheduled for 11 and 12 February, with final results expected on 15 February and publication the following day.
The delay comes despite repeated commitments by President Salva Kiir’s administration to hold the vote and end the prolonged transitional arrangements established under the country’s 2018 peace agreement. The government had defended the December date, arguing that further postponements risked prolonging transitional governance indefinitely.
But the practical obstacles are stark. The commission has received only $21 million of the $276 million it requested to organise the elections, highlighting the financial constraints on the process. Days before the announcement, the UN Security Council heard warnings that South Sudan was not adequately prepared to hold elections in December, with UN and African Union officials cautioning that a rushed or poorly managed process could undermine the fragile peace and plunge the country back into conflict. In September, the United Nations Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan said the country lacked the safeguards and conditions for peaceful and credible elections.
Political conditions have also worsened. Former vice president Riek Machar has been under house arrest since March 2025, accused of crimes against humanity, while the country continues to grapple with political divisions, insecurity and delays in implementing the 2018 peace deal. Elections originally scheduled for 2023 were postponed in 2022 and again in 2024; the latest adjustment is considerably shorter than the previous two, but it means South Sudanese voters will still have waited more than a decade and a half for their first national ballot.
Sources: Reuters, “South Sudan delays election to February 11, 2027”, https://northlandnewsradio.com/2026/11/14/south-sudan-delays-election-to-february-11-2027/ ; The Eastleigh Voice, “South Sudan postpones first elections to February 2027 following readiness concerns”, https://eastleighvoice.co.ke/news/423628/south-sudan-postpones-first-elections-to-february-2027-following-readiness-concerns ; The Sudan Times, “South Sudan postpones general elections to February 2027”, https://thesudantimes.com/sudan/south-sudan-postpones-general-elections-to-february-2027/
