2016 Cape Verdean presidential election

Presidential elections were held in Cape Verde on 2 October 2016.^[1] Incumbent President Jorge Carlos Fonseca of the Movement for Democracy (MpD) was re-elected with 74% of the vote.

2016 Cape Verdean presidential election

← 2011 2 October 2016 2021 →
Registered	361,221
Turnout	35.47%
Nominee Jorge Carlos Fonseca Albertino Graça Party MpD Independent Popular vote 93,010 28,256 Percentage 74.08% 22.51%
President before election Jorge Carlos Fonseca MpD Elected President Jorge Carlos Fonseca MpD

Electoral system

The President of Cape Verde is elected using the two-round system.^[2][3]

Candidates

Jorge Carlos Fonseca was looking to secure his second term and was the favourite to win as the main opposition party the African Party for the Independence of Cape Verde (PAICV) failed to present a candidate after their disappointing loss in the parliamentary elections in March and municipal elections in September. Fonseca, representing the MpD, faced two independent candidates, Joaquim Monteiro and Albertino Graça.^[4]

Campaign

Campaigning was temporarily suspended on 22 September following the death of the country's ex-president António Mascarenhas Monteiro.^[5] Monteiro was the country's first democratically elected president and was also a member of the MpD. All public events and rallies were suspended for 4 days until 26 September.^[6]

Results

Candidate		Party	Votes	%
	Jorge Carlos Fonseca	Movement for Democracy	93,010	74.09
	Albertino Graça	Independent	28,256	22.51
	Joaquim Monteiro	Independent	4,278	3.41
Total			125,544	100.00
Valid votes			125,544	97.99
Invalid/blank votes			2,573	2.01
Total votes			128,117	100.00
Registered voters/turnout			361,221	35.47
Source: DGAPE

Reactions

• African Union – The 29 member AU observer team headed by Manuel Serifo Nhamadjo cited the election as an exemplary example of a transparent election.^[7]