2021 Cape Verdean presidential election

The outgoing president Jorge Carlos Fonseca was first elected after the 2011 election,^[3] and was re-elected in 2016 after winning 74% of the popular vote.^[4][5]

The president was elected using the two-round system by registered voters residing in the country and abroad.^[6][7] Eligible candidates must be citizens "of Cape Verdean origin, who hold no other nationality"; over 35 years of age on the date of candidacy; and have resided in the country for three years prior to that date. The application to register as a candidate must be presented to the Constitutional Court for approval, and requires the signatures of at least 1,000 and at most 4,000 electors.^[8]

On 27 July 2021 incumbent president Jorge Carlos Fonseca issued a decree confirming that the election would be held on 17 October, with a second round provisionally scheduled for 31 October.^[5][9] Fonseca himself was ineligible to run due to term limits.^[10] The constitution requires candidates to register 60 days prior to the election, thus setting the deadline at 17 August.^[8]

The two dominant parties, the PAICV and the Movement for Democracy (MpD),^[11] both nominated former prime ministers as their candidates. The PAICV nominated José Maria Neves,^[12] and the MpD nominated Carlos Veiga.^[13] Veiga ran for the presidency in 2001 (when he lost by just 12 votes out of 153,406 cast in the second round) and 2006 (losing by a margin of less than 2%).

Besides the two main competitors, five more candidates appeared on the ballot.^[10]

The campaign period began on 30 September and ended on 15 October.^[9] Frontrunners Veiga and Neves both pledged to stabilize the country due to the ongoing COVID-19 crisis,^[14] which heavily destabilized the economy.^[10]