Neves seeks second term in Cape Verde election on 15 November

Who is running

José Maria Neves

José Maria Neves, 66, has been president since 2021. He was prime minister from 2001 to 2016 as leader of the African Party for the Independence of Cape Verde (PAICV). The party won power in the elections of May 2026 and has declared its support for him. He proposes a forum named Cabo Verde 2050 to debate the country's future.

Joana Rosa

Joana Rosa is a former justice minister and the first woman on the ballot. She is backed by the Movement for Democracy (MpD), the main opposition party. Its national board voted on 29 August to support her, with 85% in favour.

The other four are Gilson Alves, a doctor; Casimiro de Pina, a jurist; Antero Tavares, a career judge whose judicial duties are suspended while he runs; and Loisito Tavares de Sousa, a teacher.

How the vote works

Voters elect the president directly for five years. A candidate wins with more than half of the valid votes; blank ballots are not counted. If nobody reaches that, the two candidates with the most votes meet in a runoff on 29 November, and the one with more votes wins.

Polling stations are open from 08:00 to 18:00 local time on Sunday 15 November. Citizens registered in Cape Verde and abroad can vote.

Candidates are put forward by citizens, not by parties, though parties may back one. Each needs the signatures of at least 1,000 registered voters from at least ten municipalities. A candidate must hold Cape Verdean nationality only, be over 35 and have lived in the country for the last three years. A president may serve no more than two consecutive terms.

How the race got here

Neves won the presidency in 2021 in the first round with 51.7% of the vote, ahead of Carlos Veiga, the founder of the MpD, with 42.4%. On 19 January 2026 he set the dates of this election after a meeting of the Council of the Republic, a body that advises the head of state.

He announced his candidacy on 14 September and suspended his duties as head of state. Janira Hopffer Almada, the president of the National Assembly, has been interim president since then.

Eleven candidacies reached the Constitutional Court. On 21 September it admitted five and rejected five, among them that of Fernando Rocha Delgado, who had 220 complete signatures. Péricles Tavares withdrew. On appeal the court then admitted Loisito Tavares de Sousa, after finding that five of his signatories had not been counted. That made six candidates.

What happens next

The official campaign begins on 29 October. The Constitutional Court has set the order on the ballot paper: Antero Tavares, Casimiro de Pina, José Maria Neves, Gilson Alves, Joana Rosa and Loisito Tavares de Sousa.

If no candidate has more than half of the valid votes on 15 November, the two leading candidates go to the runoff on 29 November.