Cape Verde Votes in Presidential Election Featuring First Woman Candidate
Voters in Cape Verde began casting ballots on November 15, 2026, in a presidential election that includes the first woman to run for the office since the country became independent in 1975, Al Jazeera reported. Polling runs from 8am to 6pm local time, which is 09:00 to 19:00 GMT.
The woman in question is Joana Rosa, the candidate of the Movement for Democracy party and a former justice minister. She is one of six candidates contesting the vote.
The incumbent, President Jose Maria Neves, is seeking a second term. He is a member of the African Party for the Independence of Cape Verde, known by its initials PAICV. Before becoming president in 2021, he served as prime minister for 15 years.
Another candidate, Gilson Alves, has been in the news for a legal dispute. Cape Verde's Constitutional Court, the body that rules on the country's constitutional questions, dismissed his appeal against a decision of the National Electoral Commission, or CNE, which runs the vote.
More than 300,000 people are eligible to vote, according to Al Jazeera. Nearly 77,000 Cape Verdeans living abroad are registered to vote at embassies. The CNE has also said that 145 international observers were scheduled to monitor the election, and that its members met with the heads of those observation missions on November 13. The commission has reminded employers that they must release workers so they can vote.
To win outright, a candidate must receive more than 50 percent of the vote. If no one does, the top two candidates face a run-off, a second round of voting, on November 29. Results are expected within two to three days of the vote.
Cape Verde operates a hybrid parliamentary-presidential system, in which power is shared between the prime minister and the president. The president holds veto authority over legislation and plays a mediating role between institutions, so the outcome of the presidential race carries weight beyond the largely ceremonial image the office may suggest.
