Key Facts
- What. First round of Cabo Verde’s presidential election, with six candidates on the ballot.
- When. Sunday, 15 November 2026; polls open 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. local time, or 4 a.m. to 2 p.m. US Eastern (ET).
- Who. President José Maria Neves, seeking a second term, against former justice minister Joana Rosa and four others.
- Prediction markets. Polymarket, Nov. 11, 6:30 p.m. ET: Neves 95.5%, Rosa 3.9%. These are bets, not polls.
This story is part of our coverage of the Cape Verde presidential election 2026. Dates, times and how to follow it are in our guide.
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Cabo Verde, an Atlantic archipelago of about 491,000 residents at the 2021 census, chooses its president on Sunday, 15 November 2026, in a vote that most traders already treat as settled. Our Cape Verde presidential election 2026 hub carries every update as it comes in.
Polls are open from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. local time, which is 4 a.m. to 2 p.m. ET, because the islands sit four hours ahead of New York in November. Counting begins at each polling station when voting closes, and we have not found an official time for the first provisional totals.
Six Names on the Ballot
The Constitutional Court, which vets candidacies, admitted five candidates on 21 September and a sixth on appeal on 24 September. The National Elections Commission (CNE), the body that runs the vote, published the final list on 28 September.
The ballot order, drawn by the court on 17 September, reads Antero Tavares, Casimiro de Pina, José Maria Neves, Gilson Alves, Joana Rosa and Loisito Tavares de Sousa. Neves, the incumbent, is backed by the African Party for the Independence of Cape Verde (PAICV) and is seeking a second term.
Rosa, a former justice minister, is backed by the Movement for Democracy (MpD), the other main party. Tavares is a judge running without party backing, and Tavares de Sousa is a teacher whose candidacy was admitted on appeal.
De Pina, a jurist, ran as an independent in 2021 and finished third with 1.8%. Alves also ran in 2021, as an independent, with 0.8%, and now campaigns for a presidential system.
What the Last Votes Showed
In 2021 Neves won in the first round with about 51.8% of the vote, against 42.4% for Carlos Veiga, the MpD candidate. A candidate needs more than 50% of valid votes to win outright, otherwise the top two go to a runoff.
In the May 2026 parliamentary election the PAICV took 90,660 votes, about 48.0%, against 84,458 for the MpD, about 44.8%. Cabo Verde has held free elections since 1991 and is often cited as a democratic model in Africa.
What Prediction Markets Say
Polymarket, a prediction market where users trade on outcomes, priced Neves at 95.5% and Rosa at 3.9% to win on 11 November at 6:30 p.m. ET. About US$42,304 had been traded on the market.
No opinion poll from a named institute has been found, and Kalshi, a US exchange regulated by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), lists no market for this vote that we could verify. Prices are bets, not polls.
Why we show this: prediction markets turn real-money bets into a live probability that moves within minutes of the news, which is why investors, campaigns and newsrooms in the United States now follow them closely. We show them next to polls and official results, never instead of them.
What It Means for US Readers
Cabo Verde has a sizeable diaspora in the United States, where 13,872 voters were registered for the May parliamentary vote. Results will be posted on the CNE’s official site, presidenciais2026.cne.cv.
Polls close at 2 p.m. ET on Sunday, so US readers can follow the day live. Turnout and whether Neves clears 50% in the first round are the two numbers to watch.
What Is Not Known
We could not confirm the date of a possible runoff, the hours for voting in the United States, or the time of the first provisional results. The inauguration date has also not been stated.
We did not verify the exact end of the campaign or the national counting schedule against the CNE’s election calendar. This piece sets out the state of play and is not breaking news.
Frequently Asked Questions
When does Cabo Verde vote?
Voting is on Sunday, 15 November 2026, from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. local time, or 4 a.m. to 2 p.m. ET. A runoff is held only if no candidate wins more than 50% of valid votes.
Who are the main candidates?
José Maria Neves, the incumbent backed by the PAICV, faces Joana Rosa, a former justice minister backed by the MpD. Four other candidates are also on the ballot.
This article was produced by The Rio Times’ automated AI newsroom. Editorial responsibility: Matthias Camenzind, Publisher and Editor-in-Chief. The Rio Times also runs Ask Rio Times, which answers from 100,000+ of our own articles, the daily Latin America Power Map, and prediction-market odds on elections and markets.. How we use AI · Report an error