Elections in Cabo Verde

Cabo Verde holds presidential, legislative and municipal elections. The President serves a five-year term. The National Assembly has between 66 and 72 deputies, including six seats for voters abroad, and each legislature has five legislative sessions. Municipal elections cover 22 municipalities and separately elect the Assembleia Municipal and the Câmara Municipal. The Comissão Nacional de Eleições (CNE) is the highest election-management body. It sets the calendar, supervises elections, provides voter information, accredits candidates and delegates, handles complaints within its authority, proclaims results and checks campaign accounts. The Comissões de Recenseamento Eleitoral (CRE) register voters, correct or transfer registrations, remove entries when required and issue voter cards and certificates. DGAPE supports election administration. Embassies and consulates organize voting for citizens abroad. The Tribunal Constitucional reviews presidential and legislative candidacies and handles the relevant electoral appeals, while the Supremo Tribunal de Justiça reviews appeals concerning voting and counting decisions. Legal notices are published through the Boletim Oficial. Citizens of Cabo Verde aged 18 or older may vote when they are registered. Dual nationality does not remove the active voting right. The research basis identifies final incapacity decisions, legally recognized mental illness and a final suspension of political rights as exclusions. Registration is permanent, limited to one entry per person and normally linked to the concelho of habitual residence. People register in person through a CRE, either in Cabo Verde or abroad. Registration is suspended at least 65 days before an election, and the electoral rolls become fixed during the final 30 days. A correction or complaint must follow the short legal deadlines set for the CRE, CNE or competent court. Municipal voting has additional eligibility rules. Foreign and stateless residents aged 18 or older may vote when they have legal and habitual residence in Cabo Verde for more than three years and are registered. Lusophone residents may qualify under legally established equal conditions. Municipal voters cast one ballot for the Assembleia Municipal and another for the Câmara Municipal. The Assembleia Municipal distributes mandates using the D’Hondt method, which converts list votes into seats. For the Câmara Municipal, the list with a majority receives all councillor mandates; otherwise, mandates are distributed by D’Hondt. Independent citizen groups can stand municipally when they obtain support from at least 5% of the electorate. In presidential elections, voters choose directly and by secret ballot. A candidate needs more than half of the valid votes; blank ballots do not count toward that majority. If no candidate reaches it, the two leading candidates enter a second round. A presidential candidate must be a Cabo-verdian by origin, hold no other nationality, be at least 35 years old, have maintained permanent residence in Cabo Verde during the previous three years and submit between 1,001 and 4,000 elector signatures to the Tribunal Constitucional no later than 60 days before the election. Votes from abroad for the presidency cannot exceed one fifth of the nationally counted votes. Legislative elections use one vote for a party or coalition list in each electoral circle. Candidates appear in a fixed order, and seats are distributed among the lists by D’Hondt. The diaspora is divided into the electoral circles África, Europa e Resto do Mundo and Américas. In the legislative election held on 17 May 2026, PAICV won 37 of 72 seats, MpD won 33 and UCID won 2; turnout was 46.5%, with abstention at 53.5%. Polling stations normally open from 08:00 to 18:00. Voters present their voter card or identity document, mark one choice on the ballot, vote alone in a secret booth and place the ballot in a visible ballot box. Campaigning and pressure are prohibited within 500 metres of a polling station. Counting takes place manually at the mesa de voto, where candidate delegates may be present, and the results are posted at the polling station. The general count uses the polling-station minutes, electoral rolls and challenged or invalid ballots and is normally completed by the third day. For overseas voting, the CNE carries out the general count on the third day. Voto antecipado is available to defined groups whose duties or circumstances prevent ordinary voting, including military and security personnel, health and civil-protection workers, maritime and aeronautical workers, journalists, candidates, mesa members, hospitalized people and prisoners. The request is made through the Câmara Municipal. The 2026 legislative calendar set professional voting for 2–5 May and applications by hospitalized people and prisoners no later than 27 April. Cabo Verde also provides Voto Acessível, a Braille matrix, sign-language materials and support at accessible polling stations; a 2026 pilot added transport for people with reduced mobility. Voters do not pay a fee to cast a ballot on the available evidence. Candidates receive free access to public campaign spaces and media, but they bear technical recording costs. Campaigning begins on the 17th day before election day and ends at 24:00 on the day before the antevéspera. Election dates are normally fixed at least 70 days in advance, and statutory calendar deadlines do not extend because they fall on Sundays or public holidays. The presidential election is scheduled for 15 November 2026. After legislative elections, the President hears the parliamentary forces and considers the result, a majority, and possible coalitions or alliances before appointing the Primeiro Ministro. The Government then submits its programme and a mandatory confidence motion within no more than 15 days after taking office. Complaints about polling or counting go to the Supremo Tribunal de Justiça, while challenges to CNE acts and administrative electoral offences follow the appeal procedure before the Tribunal Constitucional.