General elections were held in the Bahamas on 12 May 2026 to elect all 41 members of the House of Assembly. The election was called early by Prime Minister Philip Davis, with Parliament dissolved on 8 April 2026 and the writs of election issued the following day. The election was held using 41 constituencies following a boundary review that created two additional seats, St James and Bimini and Berry Islands.
FNM leader Michael Pintard conceded the election four hours after the polls closed, with results being largely similar to the 2021 election. The election resulted in the re-election of the PLP and a second consecutive term under Davis, the first Bahamian prime minister to win a second term since the 1997 election.
Background In the 2021 general election, held on 16 September 2021, the Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) led by opposition leader Philip Davis defeated the incumbent Free National Movement (FNM) government of Prime Minister Hubert Minnis, winning 32 of the 39 seats in the House of Assembly. Minnis conceded defeat on election night and Davis was sworn in as Prime Minister on 17 September 2021. The PLP's 32 seats were its highest seat total since the 1982 election, while the FNM's seven seats were its lowest total since the 1977 election. 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.
Following their election defeat, the FNM selected Michael Pintard as its new leader in November 2021. Pintard defeated a leadership challenge in June 2024.
By-elections and defections 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. On 22 November 2023, PLP candidate Kingsley Smith won with 2,150 votes, defeating FNM candidate Bishop Ricardo Grant (1,276) in the by-election.
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.
On 28 September 2025, Minister of Environment and Natural Resources and Golden Isles MP Vaughn Miller died, creating another vacancy in the House. 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).
Timeline On 1 April 2026, Davis announced that he would advise the Governor-General to dissolve Parliament on 8 April, that the writs of election would be issued on 9 April, and that polling day would be held on 12 May. He also said that the register of voters for the election would close at the end of 8 April, the statutory deadline for new registrations and constituency transfers. The election was called several months before the last possible date, as the next general election had not been due until mid-October 2026. An official in Davis's office said the early timing was intended to avoid disruption from the upcoming Atlantic hurricane season.
On 8 April, Police Commissioner Shanta Knowles, acting as provost marshal, read the proclamation dissolving Parliament. The next session of Parliament was set for 20 May. Nomination Day was held on 16 April, and the advance poll was scheduled for 30 April.
Electoral system Members of the House of Assembly are elected from single-member constituencies using first-past-the-post voting. The majority party then selects the Prime Minister, who is appointed by the Governor-General.
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. 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. 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. In January 2026, the commission's report was tabled in the House of Assembly, which approved the creation of two new constituencies — St James and Bimini and Berry Islands — raising the total number of constituencies from 39 to 41. 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 apply from the next general election.
In 2025, the government introduced the Parliamentary Elections (Amendment) Bill, 2025 as part of a package of election administration reforms. 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. 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 the voter's consent). The Senate passed the bill in August 2025.
In January 2026, more than 196,000 people were registered to vote, with work continuing to remove duplicate registrations and deceased persons from the register ahead of the general election. By April 2026, more than 209,000 voters were registered. The new biometric voter card was not mandatory; voters could use the existing purple voter card in the 2026 election.
Election administration and observation The elections were monitored by election observers, including missions from the Commonwealth, the Organization of American States (OAS), the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), and accredited United States embassy observers. On 20 April 2026, the OAS and the Government of the Bahamas signed an agreement establishing the privileges and immunities of an OAS Electoral Observation Mission for the election. The OAS said this would be the fourth time it had observed an election in the Bahamas and designated Sherry Tross of Saint Kitts and Nevis as chief of mission. The United States also planned to deploy accredited embassy observers. CARICOM mounted a nine-member Election Observation Mission from nine member states, which operated from 5 to 15 May. The Commonwealth deployed a Commonwealth Observer Group consisting of eminent persons from across the Commonwealth, led by former Prime Minister of Jamaica Bruce Golding.
A record of more than 200,000 people were registered to vote.
Ahead of the advance poll, early voting was available to categories including senior citizens, special voters, members of the uniformed branches, students abroad and pregnant women. The Parliamentary Registration Department said that overseas voting would take place at 13 missions, with about 400 voters expected to cast ballots abroad, while advance polling in the Bahamas would be held at 17 polling stations in New Providence and Grand Bahama. The OAS said eligibility for the advance poll had been expanded to include elderly persons and persons with disabilities, resulting in about 26,000 registered advance voters, the highest number recorded in a Bahamian election.
CARICOM said that voters were able to cast their ballots in a peaceful and orderly manner and that the results were in keeping with the will of the people of the Bahamas. In its preliminary findings, the Commonwealth Observer Group described polling day as peaceful, orderly and transparent, but reiterated concerns about the absence of an independent electoral management body, but also noted operational problems during the advance poll, including overcrowding, long waiting times and voter confusion over registration procedures and polling assignments. The OAS reported that the election proceeded in an orderly manner, with no significant incidents, but noted that electronic poll books were not deployed, that the advance poll experienced delays and long lines. The OAS also noted that the Parliamentary Registration Department's official website did not publish preliminary results on election night. According to the mission, the public's main source of election-night results was media reporting based on information provided by the PRD.
Parties and leaders In addition to the two principal parties in the Bahamas, the PLP and the FNM, independent politicians and the COI also contested the election. +Parties and leadersPartyLeaderCandidatesPLPPhilip Davis41FNMMichael Pintard41COILincoln Bain40IndependentsN/A16
Campaign Philip Davis and the PLP sought a second consecutive term, something that no prime minister or party had managed to achieve in the country in nearly 30 years.
The campaign took place against a backdrop of concerns over the cost of living, crime, immigration, government transparency, housing, healthcare and public services. Affordability concerns included rising housing costs and stagnant wages, while housing remained a challenge despite efforts by recent PLP and FNM governments to expand access to housing. On 1 April 2026, the government removed VAT from unprepared food sold in grocery stores, a measure it had presented as relief for households facing the rising cost of living.
The governing PLP launched its 2026 platform, Blueprint for Progress, at the University of the Bahamas in April 2026. The platform included proposals on migrant health insurance, tighter immigration enforcement, expanded worker protections, artificial intelligence and digital government, housing, competition policy, agriculture, healthcare and Family Island development. Davis said the PLP had completed or commenced 325 of the 387 commitments made in its 2021 Blueprint for Change, and the government released a public tracker of those commitments.
The opposition FNM released a 54-page manifesto titled We Work For You. The party promised to remove VAT from everyday essentials, medical costs and educational supplies, introduce a national lottery, build at least 5,000 homes, begin implementation of the Freedom of Information Act within 90 days of taking office, and hire 100 doctors and 200 nurses. Immigration, especially irregular migration from Haiti, became one of the main campaign issues. The FNM placed greater emphasis on sovereignty and immigration enforcement late in the campaign, using the slogan "Save our Sovereignty".
The COI campaigned as an alternative to the two major parties and promoted a first-100-days programme focused on immigration, crime, healthcare, education and culture. The election was expected to be mainly a contest between the PLP and FNM, although the COI had drawn attention during the campaign. No prime minister of an independent Bahamas had previously been elected from a third party.
Candidates Nomination Day was held on 16 April 2026. Parliamentary Commissioner Harrison Thompson said that about 130 candidates were nominated across the 41 constituencies, with no applications rejected and only limited issues reported in a few constituencies. The official list of nominated candidates was published in the Bahamas Gazette.