Elections in France

Scene inside a polling station during the French presidential election of 2007: election officials and a standard transparent ballot box.

France
This article is part of a series on the politics and government of France
Republic Fifth Republic Constitution Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen
Executive President (list) François Hollande Prime Minister (list) Manuel Valls Government Second Valls Government
Legislature National Assembly President: Claude Bartolone Senate President: Gérard Larcher Congress of the French Parliament
Judiciary Constitutional Council Council of State Court of Cassation Court of Audit Cour de Justice de la République
Administrative divisions Regions Departments
Elections Presidential Legislative Municipal Political parties
Foreign relations Africa Americas Asia France and the United Nations Foreign alliances Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs
Related topics Human rights Political scandals
France portal
Other countries Atlas Politics portal

France is a representative democracy. Public officials in the legislative and executive branches are either elected by the citizens (directly or indirectly) or appointed by elected officials. Referendums may also be called to consult the French citizenry directly on a particular question, especially one which concerns amendment to the Constitution.

France elects on its national level a head of state – the president – and a legislature

• The president is elected for a five-year term (previously, seven years), directly by the citizens (see Election of the President of the French Republic).
• The Parliament (Parlement) has two chambers.
  • The National Assembly (Assemblée Nationale) has 577 members, elected for a five-year term in single seat-constituencies directly by the citizens.
  • The Senate (Sénat) has 348 members, 328 of which are elected for six-year terms by an electoral college consisting of elected representatives from each department, 8 of which are elected from other dependencies, and 12 of which are elected by the French Assembly of French Citizens Abroad (Assemblée des Français de l'étranger) which has replaced the High Council of French Citizens Abroad (Conseil Supérieur des Français de l'Étranger) a 155-member assembly elected by citizens living abroad.

See Government of France for more details about these political structures.

In addition, French citizens elect a variety of local governments. There also are public elections for some non-political positions, such as those for the judges of courts administering labor law (conseils de prud'hommes), elected by workers and employers, or those for judges administering cases of rural land leases.

France does not have a full-fledged two-party system; that is, a system where, though many political parties may exist, only two parties are relevant to the dynamics of power. However French politics displays some tendencies characterizing a two-party system in which power alternates between relatively stable coalitions, each being led by a major party: on the left, the Socialist Party, on the right, Les Républicains and its predecessors. See politics of France for more details.

Elections are conducted according to rules set in the Constitution of France, organisational laws (lois organiques), and the electoral code.

Elections are always held on Sundays in France. The campaigns end at midnight the Friday before the election; then, on election Sunday, by law, no polls can be published, no electoral publication and broadcasts can be made. The voting stations open at 8 am and close at 6 pm in small towns or at 8 pm in cities, depending on prefectoral decisions. By law, publication of results or estimates is prohibited prior to that time; such results are however often available from the media of e.g. Belgium and Switzerland, or from foreign Internet sites, prior to that time. The first estimate of the results are thus known at Sunday, 8pm, Paris time; one consequence is that voters in e.g. French Guiana, Martinique and Guadeloupe knew the probable results of elections whereas they had not finished voting, which allegedly discouraged them from voting. For this reason, since the 2000s, elections in French possessions in the Americas, as well as embassies and consulates there, are held on Saturdays as a special exemption.

Voters

Standard transparent ballot box used in France. The voter puts the envelope containing the name or the list of people for whom he or she votes and then signs the electoral roll to avoid double votes.

Some French cities use voting machines.

With the exception of senatorial election, for which there is an electoral college, the voters are French citizens over the age of 18 registered on the electoral rolls. For municipal and European elections, citizens aged 18 or older of other European Union countries may decide to vote in France. Registration is not compulsory, but the absence of registration precludes the possibility of voting. Currently, all youths reaching the age of 18 are automatically registered.

Citizens may register either in their place of residence or in a place where they have been on the roll of taxpayers for local taxes for at least 5 years. A citizen may not be legally registered in more than one place. Citizens living abroad may register at the consulate responsible for the region in which they live.

Only citizens legally registered as voters can run for public office.

There are exceptions to the above rules. Convicted criminals may be deprived of their civic rights, which include the right to vote, for a certain period of time depending on the crime. In particular, elected officials who have abused public funds may be deprived of the right to run for national public office for as long as 10 years. The application of such rules in the case of certain politicians has been controversial; see for instance the case of Alain Juppé.

Voting by proxy is possible when the citizen cannot easily come to vote (reasons include: health problems, the citizen does not live in the voting constituency, he or she is away for work or vacations, he or she is jailed yet has not been sentenced and deprived of civic rights etc.). The citizen designates a proxy, who must be a voter from the same commune. The designation of the proxy must be made before a legally capable witness: a judge, a judicial clerk, or an officier of judicial police, or, outside France, before an ambassador or consul. In the case of handicapped or severely ill people, an officer of judicial police or delegate thereof can be sent to the home of the citizen to witness the designation. The procedure is meant to avoid pressures on voters.

Electoral system

In all elections where there is a single official to be elected for a given area, including the two major national elections (the election of the President of the Republic and the election of the members of the National Assembly), two-round runoff voting is used.

For elections to the European Parliament and some local elections, proportional voting is used.

Voting procedures

Isolation booth

In general, voting is done using paper and manual counting. The voter gets pre-printed bulletins from a table at the entrance of the voting office (they are also provided through the mail), as well as an envelope. They enter the isoloir, or isolation booth, where they're hidden from sight, and insert the appropriate bulletin into the envelope. They walk to the ballot box and show their voter registration card (not compulsory) and are required to prove their identity (in towns of more than 5000 inhabitants, an identification document must be shown). After the officials have acknowledged their right to vote, the ballot box is opened and the voter inserts the envelope. One of the officials traditionally loudly says "a voté", which can be translated as "your ballot has been cast". It is purely ceremonial and has a double meaning: the voter's voice will be taken into account and they've accomplished their civic duty. They then sign the voters' list, and their registration card is stamped.

Procedures differ when electronic voting, not widespread in France, is used in some cities, despite some controversy about its safety and effectiveness.

Latest election

Presidential

Main article: French presidential election, 2012

 Summary of the 21–22 April and 5–6 May 2012 French presidential election result

Candidate		Party		1st round		2nd round
				Votes	%	Votes	%
	François Hollande	Socialist Party and Radical Party of the Left (Parti socialiste - Parti radical de gauche)	PS / PRG	10,272,705	28.63%	18,000,668	51.64%
	Nicolas Sarkozy	Union for a Popular Movement (Union pour un mouvement populaire)	UMP	9,753,629	27.18%	16,860,685	48.36%
	Marine Le Pen	National Front (Front national)	FN	6,421,426	17.90%
	Jean-Luc Mélenchon	Left Front (Front de gauche)	FG	3,984,822	11.10%
	François Bayrou	Democratic Movement (Mouvement démocrate)	MoDem	3,275,122	9.13%
	Eva Joly	Europe Écologie–The Greens (Europe Écologie–Les Verts)	EELV	828,345	2.31%
	Nicolas Dupont-Aignan	Arise the Republic (Debout la République)	DLR	643,907	1.79%
	Philippe Poutou	New Anticapitalist Party (Nouveau Parti anticapitaliste)	NPA	411,160	1.15%
	Nathalie Arthaud	Workers' Struggle (Lutte ouvrière)	LO	202,548	0.56%
	Jacques Cheminade	Solidarity and Progress (Solidarité et Progrès)	SP	89,545	0.25%
Total				35,883,209	100%	34,861,353	100%
Valid votes				35,883,209	98.08%	34,861,353	94.18%
Spoilt and null votes				701,190	1.92%	2,154,956	5.82%
Turnout				36,584,399	79.48%	37,016,309	80.35%
Abstentions				9,444,143	20.52%	9,049,998	19.65%
Registered voters				46,028,542		46,066,307
Table of results ordered by number of votes received in first round. Official results by Constitutional Council of France. Source: List of candidates · First round result · Second round result

Legislative

Main article: French legislative election, 2012

 Summary of the 10 and 17 June 2012 French National Assembly elections results

Parties and coalitions				First round			Second round			Total
				Votes	%	Seats	Votes	%	Seats	Seats	%	Swing
		Socialist Party (Parti socialiste)	PS	7,617,996	29.35%	22	9,420,426	40.91%	258	280	48.53%	94
		Miscellaneous left (Divers gauche)	DVG	881,339	3.40%	1	709,409	3.11%	21	22	3.81%	7
		Europe Ecology – The Greens (Europe Écologie – Les Verts)	EELV	1,418,141	5.46%	1	828,916	3.60%	16	17	2.95%	13
		Radical Party of the Left (Parti radical de gauche)	PRG	429,059	1.65%	1	538,324	2.34%	11	12	2.08%	5
Presidential majority (Left)				10,346,535	39.86%	25	11,497,075	49.93%	306	331	57.70%	119
		Union for a Popular Movement (Union pour un mouvement populaire)	UMP	7,037,471	27.12%	9	8,740,625	37.95%	185	194	33.62%	119
		Miscellaneous right (Divers droite)	DVD	910,392	3.51%	1	418,135	1.82%	14	15	2.60%	6
		New Centre (Nouveau Centre)	NC	569,890	2.20%	1	568,288	2.47%	11	12	2.08%	10
		Radical Party (Parti radical)	PRV	321,054	1.24%	0	311,211	1.35%	6	6	1.04%	12
		Centrist Alliance (Alliance centriste)	AC	156,026	0.60%	0	123,352	0.54%	2	2	0.35%	2
Total Parliamentary Right				8,994,833	34.67%	11	10,161,611	44.13%	218	229	39.69%	116
	Left Front (Front de gauche)		FDG	1,792,923	6.91%	0	249,525	1.08%	10	10	1.73%	8
	National Front (Front national)		FN	3,528,373	13.60%	0	842,684	3.66%	2	2	0.35%	2
	Regionalists and separatists		REG	145,825	0.56%	0	135,534	0.59%	2	2	0.35%	2
	Centre for France (Le Centre pour la France)		MoDem	458,046	1.76%	0	113,196	0.49%	2	2	0.35%	1
	Other far-right		ExD	49,501	0.19%	0	29,738	0.13%	1	1	0.17%	1
	Other far-left		ExG	253,580	0.98%	0	–	–	–	0	0.00%
	Other ecologists		ECO	249,205	0.96%	0	–	–	–	0	0.00%
	Others (Autres)		AUT	133,729	0.52%	0	–	–	–	0	0.00%
Total				25,952,550	100%	36	23,029,183	100%	541	577	100%
Valid votes				25,952,550	98.40%		23,029,183	96.12%
Spoilt and null votes				420,749	1.60%		928,411	3.88%
Votes cast / turnout				26,373,299	57.23%		23,957,594	55.41%
Abstentions				19,709,961	42.77%		19,276,406	44.59%
Registered voters				46,083,260			43,234,000
Source: Ministry of the Interior

Past elections and referenda

Indirect presidential elections

• 3rd Republic
• 1947
• 1953
• 1958

Other elections

As well as Presidential and legislative elections, France also has municipal, cantonal, regional, European, and (indirect) Senatorial elections.

Regional

Regional elections have been held since 1986 to elect regional councillors and regional presidents: all elected to serve 6-year terms.

• 2015
• 2010
• 2004
• 1998
• 1992
• 1986

European Parliament

Elections for the French delegation to the European parliament are held every five years.

• 2014
• 2009
• 2004
• 1999
• 1994
• 1989

Senate

French senators are renewed by halves every six years through an indirect electoral college composed of elected officials and general, regional, and some local councillors.

• 2014
• 2011
• 2008

Municipal

Municipal elections to elect city mayors and councillors are held every six years.

• 2014
• 2008
• 2001
• 1995
• 1989

Cantonal (departemental from 2015)

• 2008
• 2004
• 2001
• 1998

Referendums

The Constitution of France defines in Article 3 that "National sovereignty shall vest in the people, who shall exercise it through their representatives and by means of referendum." The Constitution describes two ways for holding a referendum:

• The President may, on the recommendation from the Government or the Parliament, submit to a referendum some government bills.
• A referendum may be held upon the initiative of one fifth of the Members of Parliament, supported by one tenth of the registered voters.

The Constitution explicitly states that a referendum can be called only on a Government Bill "which deals with the organization of the public authorities, or with reforms relating to the economic or social policy of the Nation, and to the public services contributing thereto, or which provides for authorization to ratify a treaty which, although not contrary to the Constitution, would affect the functioning of the institutions" (Article 11 of the Constitution).

The second procedure for holding a referendum has several limitations:

• it cannot be used to repeal laws which are in effect for less than a year, and
• if the proposal fails on a referendum, it cannot be re-submitted to a referendum for next two years.

The second procedure for holding a referendum was added to the Constitution in 2008, and it still has not come into effect (as of 2013). It will come into effect when appropriate legislation is implemented by the Parliament.

The Constitution of France can be amended in two ways:

• on a referendum, or
• by three fifths super-majority of both houses of the Parliament.

Most constitutional revisions went through the super-majority of the Parliament in Congress.

Ratification of treaties of accession of states to the EU must go through the same procedure as amendment of Constitution of France. All of ratifications went through the super-majority of the Parliament, except the first EU enlargement in 1973.

There were 9 referendums in the Fifth Republic:

• 2 on Algiers (1961, 1962)
• 2 on amending the Constitution (1969, 2000)
• 2 on EU treaties (1992, 2005)
• French presidential election referendum of 1962, which also amended the Constitution
• 1 on EU enlargement (1972)
• 1 on New Caledonia (1988)

See also

• National electoral calendar 2012
• Voting system

External links

• Official results from the Ministry of the Interior
• thematic files from the Constitutional Council, including election results
• Adam Carr's Election Archive
• Laurent de Boissieu's Election Archive
• Will 2010 regional elections lead to political shake-up? gijon Internationale in English
• NSD: European Election Database – France publishes regional level election data; allows for comparisons of election results, 1993–2007