Africa-Press – Cape verde. The president of the Cape Verdean Union for Independence and Democracy (UCID, opposition) today questioned the delay in the start of voter registration in the United States and appealed to the responsibility of the Government and the entities leading the process.
João Luís, speaking at a press conference at the party headquarters in São Vicente, recalled that, according to articles 78 and 79 of the Electoral Code, the electoral process, including registration abroad, must begin 240 days before the end of the term of office of the elected officials, extending until the publication of the final election results.
Therefore, he recalled, the overseas census should have started in September 2025.
“However, it is already December 2025 and there is no formal start or clear operational progress. We ask, then: why is there so much delay in a process whose legal responsibility is shared by the Government, the General Directorate for Support to the Electoral Process (DGAPE) and the National Elections Commission (CNE)?”
According to the president of UCID, the process is proceeding with “unjustifiable slowness” and in the Quincy consulate “the situation is even more critical.” He considered that these failures could compromise the credibility of the entire 2026 electoral cycle in the USA.
“The non-availability of the electoral rolls requested by UCID, the lack of modern mechanisms such as digital registration, and the lack of decentralization of registration to other states with a strong Cape Verdean presence are clear examples of practices that raise serious doubts about the transparency of the process,” he criticized.
For the president of UCID, “the risk” of “excluding thousands of Cape Verdean citizens” from the electoral census is evident. He also considered that the “lack of uniformity and equality” in access to the census “represents a real danger to the trust and legitimacy of the electoral process.”
João Santos Luís also protested against the “categorical and unjustified rejection” of eight people nominated by the party to integrate the Electoral Census Commissions abroad.
The politician explained that his party submitted proposals for census commissions in eight countries in the diaspora, but only the United States and the Netherlands accepted representatives, and even then only as alternates.
In his view, this fact could lead to the challenge of all decisions regarding the constitution of the census commissions “in the name of legality, transparency, and commitment to the democratic principles that govern the rule of law.”
He further reinforced that Article 78 of the Electoral Code stipulates that parties with parliamentary representation must be consulted and that the composition The committees must ensure political pluralism.
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