A State Department spokesman said it was up to Haiti to decide whether the former leader should be allowed home.
But he said a return before the election could be “destabilising”.
A spokesman for Mr Aristide said last Friday that he would return from South Africa “in a few days” but insisted the move was not related to the vote.
US State Department spokesman Mark Toner said that for Mr Aristide to return this week “could only be seen as a conscious choice to impact Haiti’s elections”.
“We would urge former President Aristide to delay his return until after the electoral process has concluded, to permit the Haitian people to cast their ballots in a peaceful atmosphere,” he added.
In response, Mr Aristide’s lawyer in Miami said the former president was concerned that he might lose his chance to return to Haiti once a new president was in place.
They should leave the decision to the democratically elected government â€
The lawyer, Ira Kurzban, also questioned the US statement.
