The first Haitian election to be held since the 2004 outster of democratically elected President Jean Bertrand Aristide, was postponed by the Provisional Electoral Council by a month, the second such delay to take place; the original election date was October 15th. Max Mathurin, head of the Council’s stated reason for the delay was so they could have more time to distribute Voter ID cards, hire election workers, and other practical preparations. The campaign officially began on Saturday, where over 32 candidates began, excluding a Haitian-American millionaire who was denied the ability to run.