South Sudan Delays First-Ever Election Again, Sets New Date for February 2027

South Sudan has pushed back its first national election since independence to 11 February 2027, delaying a vote that had been scheduled for 22 December this year. The National Elections Commission announced the revised date on Saturday, in a new electoral timetable that shifts polling by 51 days. The commission gave no reason for the change.

Commission spokesperson Josephine Achiro Fortelo confirmed the change on Saturday, saying the new calendar was drawn up after wide consultation with political parties and other stakeholders. Commission chairperson Gabriel Bol Deng had met registered political parties in Juba on 12 November to discuss the electoral road map and the preparations still outstanding.

FAKTA: South Sudan Election Delay

• What: Presidential and parliamentary elections postponed
• Old date: 22 December 2026
• New date: 11 February 2027
• Delay: 51 days
• Voter registration: 14 to 28 November 2026
• Campaigning: 27 December 2026 to 9 February 2027
• Final results: Expected 16 February 2027
• First election since: Independence in 2011

New Timetable Sets Out Registration and Campaign Dates

The revised calendar sets out every step between now and polling day. Voter registration runs from 14 to 28 November, with the provisional register due to be published on 29 November. Campaigning will run for 45 days, from 27 December to 9 February, followed by a day of campaign silence on 10 February before voters go to the polls. Counting and announcement of results at polling centres is scheduled for 11 and 12 February, with final results expected on 16 February. The calendar then allows 148 days, until 15 July, for the resolution of election disputes.

Readiness Concerns and a Funding Shortfall

The delay comes amid growing doubts about whether the country is ready to hold a credible vote. In September, the United Nations Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan said the country lacked the safeguards and conditions needed for peaceful and credible elections. Days before the new date was announced, the UN Security Council heard warnings that South Sudan was not adequately prepared to vote in December, with UN and African Union officials cautioning that a rushed process could undermine the fragile peace. The commission has also received only 21 million dollars of the 276 million dollars it requested to organise the vote.

A Vote Fifteen Years in the Making

South Sudan has never held a national election since it broke away from Sudan in 2011 after decades of struggle. A 2018 peace agreement formally ended a five-year civil war that killed hundreds of thousands of people and was meant to open the way to democratic elections, but political disagreements, insecurity and slow implementation of the deal have repeatedly pushed the vote back. The latest postponement means citizens who have waited years to choose their national leaders must wait longer still, and the coming months will test whether the commission can deliver a peaceful, transparent and trusted vote.

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