Angola has a score of 46 out of 100, with 100 representing the least vulnerability in terms of election integrity, on Freedom House’s Election Vulnerability Index, which is based on a selection of key election-related indicators. The score reflects elections that are not regarded as free and fair. Voters do not directly elect a president in Angola; instead, the head of the national list of the political party receiving the most votes in general elections becomes president. In December 2021, the ruling MPLA announced that president João Lourenço would again be the party’s presidential candidate in 2022. Lourenço was first elected to the presidency in 2017, succeeding former president José Eduardo dos Santos, who had been in power for 38 years. Opposition parties disputed the 2017 results, alleging irregularities at the National Election Commission. In November 2021, Lourenço signed into law an amendment to general election law that will centralize vote counting, a move that some organizations have criticized as decreasing the amount of civil society oversight. Laws criminalizing online activities and the threat of cyberattacks against civic actors are the two main digital risks to elections in Angola. The country is rated Not Free in the Freedom in the World 2022, with a score of 30 out of 100 with respect to its political rights and civil liberties; and Partly Free in Freedom on the Net 2021, with an internet freedom score of 62/100. To learn more about these annual Freedom House assessments, please visit the Angola country reports in Freedom in the World and Freedom on the Net. 

Note: This country received an abbreviated preelection assessment. For more information, please refer to the Election Vulnerability Index data and the annual country reports listed above.