[1] The result was a victory for José Maria Neves of the opposition African Party for the Independence of Cape Verde (PAICV), who received 51.8% of the vote.

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] The two dominant parties, the PAICV and the Movement for Democracy (MpD),[11] both nominated former prime ministers as their candidates.

[9] Frontrunners Veiga and Neves both pledged to stabilize the country due to the ongoing COVID-19 crisis,[14] which heavily destabilized the economy.

This was the first time the PAICV won a presidential election since 2006, when Pedro Pires was re-elected president for a second term.