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By September 2026 | ||||||||||||||||
All 41 seats in the House of Assembly 21 seats needed for a majority | ||||||||||||||||
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 Constituencies (pending for updates; two new constituencies: Bimini & Berry Islands and St. James are being created [1] ) | ||||||||||||||||
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General elections are scheduled to be held in the Bahamas by September 2026 to elect all 41 members of the House of Assembly. [2] [3]
In the general election, held on 16 September 2021, the Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) led by opposition leader Philip Davis won a landslide victory over the incumbent Free National Movement (FNM) government of Prime Minister Hubert Minnis, winning 32 of the 39 seats in the House of Assembly. [4] [5] Minnis conceded defeat on election night and Davis was sworn in as Prime Minister on 17 September 2021. [6] [7] The turnout was about 65% of registered voters, likely the lowest general election turnout in modern Bahamian history. 32 seats was the PLP's highest seat total since 1982 elections while seven seats was the FNM's lowest since 1977. [5] Former Prime Minister Perry Christie argued after the 2021 result that, for more than two decades, no Bahamian government had won consecutive terms, and said the incoming administration's "survival" would depend on understanding this voting pattern. [8]
After the 2021 defeat, the FNM held a one-day leadership convention in November 2021 and elected Marco City MP Michael Pintard as leader, with 297 delegate votes (67%) against Kwasi Thompson and Iram Lewis. [9] Pintard later retained the leadership in a challenge from Minnis at the FNM convention on 1 June 2024, winning 486 votes to 163. [10]
During the 2021–2026 parliamentary term, two House of Assembly seats became vacant following the deaths of sitting PLP MPs and were filled in by-elections, while one MP changed party affiliation.
On 25 September 2023, Minister of Social Services, Information and Broadcasting and West Grand Bahama and Bimini MP Obie Wilchcombe died in office, triggering a by-election in the constituency. [11] On 22 November 2023, in the by-election, PLP candidate Kingsley Smith won with 2,150 votes, defeating FNM candidate Bishop Ricardo Grant (1,276). [12]
On 2 April 2025, Iram Lewis (Central Grand Bahama) resigned from the FNM and joined the Coalition of Independents (COI), becoming the party's first sitting representative in Parliament. [13]
On 28 September 2025, Minister of Environment and Natural Resources and Golden Isles MP Vaughn Miller died, creating another vacancy in the House. [14] On 24 November 2025, in the Golden Isles by-election, PLP candidate Darron Pickstock won 1,873 votes (48.36%) ahead of FNM candidate Brian Brown (1,636). [15]
Members of the House of Assembly are elected from single-member constituencies using first-past-the-post voting. [16] The majority party then selects the Prime Minister, who is appointed by the Governor-General. [17]
In 2025, the government tabled the Parliamentary Elections (Amendment) Bill, 2025 as part of a package of reforms to modernise election administration. Among other measures, the bill provided for the introduction of optional biometric voter cards, secure electronic poll books, and voter verification exercises every ten years. [18] [19] The legislation replaced the concept of a permanent voter card with a biometric card valid for ten years and allowed biometric data already held by the passport office to be used with a voter's consent. [19]
Electoral boundaries are reviewed ahead of general elections by a Constituencies Commission. In 2024, a new Constituencies Commission was appointed to begin another review of the electoral boundaries in preparation for the next general election. [20] By late 2025, the commission was considering changes to several large or sparsely populated constituencies, including MICAL, Killarney, Golden Isles, and West Grand Bahama and Bimini. [21] The commission had proposed creating two new constituencies by splitting Killarney and West Grand Bahama and Bimini, citing the size of those electorates (including reports that Killarney had more than 7,000 registered voters and West Grand Bahama and Bimini had 6,070). [22] In January 2026, the commission's report was tabled in the House of Assembly and confirmed the creation of two new constituencies — St James and Bimini and the Berry Islands – raising the total number of constituencies from 39 to 41. [23] [24] The changes were set out in the House of Assembly Revision of Boundaries and Re-distribution of Seats Order, 2026 (S.I. No. 5 of 2026), which divided The Bahamas into 41 constituencies (25 in New Providence, five in Grand Bahama, and 11 in the Family Islands). The order specified that the revised boundaries and seat distribution would not affect the existing House of Assembly, but would apply only from the next general election once its date is appointed by proclamation. [25]
In June 2025, two PLP MPs, Alfred Sears (Fort Charlotte) and Basil McIntosh (MICAL), announced that they would not seek re-election in 2026. [26] [27]
As 1 February 2026, the PLP's National General Council ratified all party's candidates. [28] As 4 February 2026, the FNM had ratified 39 candidates. [29] [30]
| General elections | |
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| Referendums | |
