Cabo Verde

The president (head of state) is directly elected for a 5-year term in a two-round system and may be re-elected once, so the same person can be president for a maximum of 2 terms in total, i.e. 10 years (the two terms do not have to be consecutive). The first round is held via a single-choice vote and the two candidates with the most votes advance to the second round if no one receives a majority (more than half of the valid votes, 50%+) in the first round.

The 72-member unicameral legislature (National Assembly) is directly elected every 5 years in a closed-list regional proportional representation system.

Representatives are elected in 13 multi-member districts (districts of 2-15 seats each), of which three districts are for citizens from abroad (Africa, America and Europe). The D'Hondt method is used for the distribution of seats, which favors the larger parties. There is no national legal electoral threshold, but the low district size in several districts already constitutes a significant natural threshold.

This is the description of the electoral system of Cabo Verde as of 06.06.2026 on Electoral Knowledgebase. Sources and further information on this topic:

• Election Passport: Cape Verde

• https://cne.cv/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Codigo-Eleitoral-Lei-n%C2%B0-92-V-99-de-8-de-fevereiro-com-as-sucessivas-alteracoes.pdf

• https://www.idea.int/gsod/2023/chapters/africa/case/cabo-verde/

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