Elections in France - wikipedia 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 ) Emmanuel Macron Prime Minister ( list ) Édouard Philippe Government Philippe II Legislature National Assembly President : François de Rugy 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 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. 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, elected for six - year terms. 328 members are elected by an electoral college consisting of elected representatives from each of 96 departments in metropolitan France, 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. 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 labour 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 fully - 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 has ordinarily displayed 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. This pattern was upset in 2017, when neither of those parties ' candidates reached the second round of the presidential election and the newly formed party En Marche ! gained both the presidency and a comfortable majority in the National Assembly. Elections are conducted according to rules set down in the Constitution of France, organisational laws ( lois organiques ), and the electoral code. Voting is not compulsory. Elections are held on Sundays. 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 before polling booths close. It has been alleged that this discourages voting in these places. 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. The next election will take place in 2022. Current President Emmanuel Macron is eligible for re-election in that year. Contents 1 Voters 2 Electoral system 2.1 Party primary elections 3 Voting procedures 4 Latest election 4.1 Presidential 4.2 Legislative 5 Past elections and referendums 5.1 Indirect presidential elections 6 Other elections 6.1 Regional 6.2 European Parliament 6.3 Senate 6.4 Municipal 6.5 Departmental ( Cantonal prior to 2015 ) 6.6 Referendums 7 See also 8 References 9 External links 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. People are automatically registered on reaching the age of 18. For municipal and European, but not national, elections, citizens aged 18 or older of other European Union countries may vote in France. Registration is not compulsory, but the absence of registration precludes the possibility of voting. 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, but not 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 can not easily attend the polling station ( 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 but has not yet 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. Party Primary elections Primary elections, within registered political parties, are used to select presidential candidates for the general election. Primaries also use two - round runoff voting when there are multiple candidates within a party. ( see Category : Primary elections in France ). Open primaries, where any eligible voter may participate with minimal requirements, also occur. Voting procedures Isolation booth In general, voting is done using paper and manual counting. The voter gets a pre-printed ballot paper ( bulletin ) from a table at the entrance of the voting office ( they are also provided through the mail ), as well as an envelope. The voter enters a curtained booth ( isoloir ), where they are hidden from sight, and inserts the completed ballot paper into an envelope. They walk to the ballot box and may show their voter registration card ( not compulsory ) and are required to prove their identity ( in conurbations with 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, announces `` A voté ! ( Has voted ! ) ''. This is purely ceremonial and has a double meaning : the voter 's voix ( voice ) will be taken into account and they have accomplished their civic duty. The voter then signs the voters ' list and their voter registration card is stamped. Procedures differ when electronic voting is used. It is not widespread in France, but is used in some cities, despite controversy over its safety and effectiveness. Latest election Presidential Main article : Presidential elections in France e d Summary of the 23 April and 7 May 2017 French presidential election results Candidate Party 1st round 2nd round Votes % Votes % Emmanuel Macron En Marche ! EM 8,656,346 24.01 20,743,128 66.10 Marine Le Pen National Front FN 7,678,491 21.30 10,638,475 33.90 François Fillon The Republicans LR 7,212,995 20.01 Jean - Luc Mélenchon La France Insoumise FI 7,059,951 19.58 Benoît Hamon Socialist Party PS 2,291,288 6.36 Nicolas Dupont - Aignan Debout la France DLF 1,695,000 4.70 Jean Lassalle Résistons ! 435,301 1.21 Philippe Poutou New Anticapitalist Party NPA 394,505 1.09 François Asselineau Popular Republican Union UPR 332,547 0.92 Nathalie Arthaud Lutte Ouvrière LO 232,384 0.64 Jacques Cheminade Solidarity and Progress S&P 65,586 0.18 Total 36,054,394 100.00 31,381,603 100.00 Valid votes 36,054,394 97.43 31,381,603 88.48 Blank ballots 659,997 1.78 3,021,499 8.52 Null ballots 289,337 0.78 1,064,225 3.00 Turnout 37,003,728 77.77 35,467,327 74.56 Abstentions 10,578,455 22.23 12,101,366 25.44 Registered voters 47,582,183 47,568,693 Official results published by the Constitutional Council -- 1st round result 2nd round result Legislative Main article : French legislative election, 2017 e d Summary of the 11 and 18 June 2017 French National Assembly election results Parties and coalitions First round Second round Total Votes % Seats Votes % Seats Seats % La République En Marche ! REM 6,391,269 28.21 7,826,245 43.06 306 308 53.38 Democratic Movement MoDem 932,227 4.12 0 1,100,656 6.06 42 42 7.28 Presidential majority ( centre ) 7,323,496 32.33 8,926,901 49.11 348 350 60.66 The Republicans LR 3,573,427 15.77 0 4,040,203 22.23 112 112 19.41 Union of Democrats and Independents UDI 687,225 3.03 551,784 3.04 17 18 3.12 Miscellaneous right DVD 625,345 2.76 0 306,074 1.68 6 6 1.04 Parliamentary right 4,885,997 21.57 4,898,061 26.95 135 136 23.57 Socialist Party PS 1,685,677 7.44 0 1,032,842 5.68 30 30 5.20 Miscellaneous left DVG 362,281 1.60 263,488 1.45 11 12 2.08 Radical Party of the Left PRG 106,311 0.47 0 64,860 0.36 0.52 Parliamentary left 2,154,269 9.51 1,361,190 7.49 44 45 7.80 La France Insoumise FI 2,497,622 11.03 0 883,573 4.86 17 17 2.95 French Communist Party PCF 615,487 2.72 0 217,833 1.20 10 10 1.73 National Front FN 2,990,454 13.20 0 1,590,869 8.75 8 8 1.39 Regionalists REG 204,049 0.90 0 137,490 0.76 5 5 0.87 Miscellaneous DIV 500,309 2.21 0 100,574 0.55 0.52 Ecologists ECO 973,527 4.30 0 23,197 0.13 0.17 Debout la France DLF 265,420 1.17 0 17,344 0.10 0.17 Far - right EXD 68,320 0.30 0 19,034 0.10 0.17 Far - left EXG 175,214 0.77 0 -- -- -- 0 0.00 Total 22,654,164 100.00 18,176,066 100.00 573 577 100.00 Valid votes 22,654,164 97.78 18,176,066 90.14 Blank ballots 357,018 1.54 1,409,784 6.99 Null ballots 156,326 0.67 578,765 2.87 Turnout 23,167,508 48.70 20,164,615 42.64 Abstentions 24,403,480 51.30 27,128,488 57.36 Registered voters 47,570,988 47,293,103 Source : Ministry of the Interior Past elections and referendums Elections and referendums in France Presidential 1848 1965 1969 1981 1988 1995 2002 2007 2012 2017 2022 Parliamentary 1791 1792 1795 1797 1798 1799 1815 1816 1817 1819 1820 1824 1827 1830 1831 1834 1837 1839 1842 1846 1848 1849 1852 1857 1863 1869 1871 1876 1877 1881 1885 1889 1893 1898 1902 1906 1910 1914 1919 1924 1928 1932 1936 1945 1946 ( Jun ) 1946 ( Nov ) 1951 1956 1958 1962 1967 1968 1973 1978 1981 1986 1988 1993 1997 2002 2007 2012 2017 Regional 1986 1992 1998 2015 Departemental 1961 1964 1967 1970 1973 1976 1979 1982 1985 1988 1992 1994 1998 2001 2008 2011 2015 Municipal 1959 1965 1971 1977 1989 1995 2001 2008 2014 European 1979 1984 1989 1994 1999 2009 2014 Referendums 1793 1795 1800 1802 1804 1815 1851 1852 1870 1945 1946 ( May ) 1946 ( Oct ) 1958 1961 1962 ( Jun ) 1962 ( Oct ) 1969 1972 1988 1992 2000 2005 See also : Indirect presidential and Senate elections Elections in French Guiana French Polynesia Guadeloupe Martinique Mayotte New Caledonia Saint Barthélemy Saint Martin Saint Pierre and Miquelon Wallis and Futuna 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 1998 1992 1986 European Parliament Elections for the French delegation to the European parliament are held every five years. 2014 2009 1999 1994 1989 Senate Main article : French senate elections 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 Departmental ( Cantonal prior to 2015 ) 2015 2011 2008 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 can not be used to repeal laws which are in effect for less than a year, and if the proposal fails on a referendum, it can not 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 References Jump up ^ `` Electoral code, article L55 '' ( in French ). Legifrance.gouv.fr. 1964 - 10 - 27. Retrieved 2012 - 05 - 06. Jump up ^ `` Electoral code, article R26 '' ( in French ). Legifrance.gouv.fr. 1964 - 10 - 27. Retrieved 2012 - 05 - 06. Jump up ^ Law 77 - 808 of 19 July 1977 relative to publication and broadcasting of certain opinion polls, article 11 Jump up ^ `` Electoral code, article L49 '' ( in French ). Legifrance.gouv.fr. Retrieved 2012 - 05 - 06. Jump up ^ Electoral code, L44, LO127, L194 Jump up ^ Electoral code, R58 Jump up ^ Electoral code, R60 ^ Jump up to : `` Constitution ''. French National Assembly. Retrieved 2013 - 11 - 02. 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 Elections and referendums in France Presidential 1848 1965 1969 1981 1988 1995 2002 2007 2012 2017 2022 Parliamentary 1791 1792 1795 1797 1798 1799 1815 1816 1817 1819 1820 1824 1827 1830 1831 1834 1837 1839 1842 1846 1848 1849 1852 1857 1863 1869 1871 1876 1877 1881 1885 1889 1893 1898 1902 1906 1910 1914 1919 1924 1928 1932 1936 1945 1946 ( Jun ) 1946 ( Nov ) 1951 1956 1958 1962 1967 1968 1973 1978 1981 1986 1988 1993 1997 2002 2007 2012 2017 Regional 1986 1992 1998 2015 Departemental 1961 1964 1967 1970 1973 1976 1979 1982 1985 1988 1992 1994 1998 2001 2008 2011 2015 Municipal 1959 1965 1971 1977 1989 1995 2001 2008 2014 European 1979 1984 1989 1994 1999 2009 2014 Referendums 1793 1795 1800 1802 1804 1815 1851 1852 1870 1945 1946 ( May ) 1946 ( Oct ) 1958 1961 1962 ( Jun ) 1962 ( Oct ) 1969 1972 1988 1992 2000 2005 See also : Indirect presidential and Senate elections Elections in French Guiana French Polynesia Guadeloupe Martinique Mayotte New Caledonia Saint Barthélemy Saint Martin Saint Pierre and Miquelon Wallis and Futuna France topics History Periods Timeline Prehistory Celtic Gaul Roman Gaul Kingdom of the Visigoths Francia West Francia Middle Ages Early modern era Long nineteenth century Revolutionary era Napoleonic era Belle Époque Twentieth century Regimes Absolute monarchy Ancien Régime First Republic First Empire Constitutional monarchy Bourbon Restoration July Monarchy Second Republic Second Empire Third Republic France during the Second World War Free France Vichy France Provisional Republic Fourth Republic Fifth Republic Geography Administrative divisions Cities Climate Extreme points Islands Lakes Mountains Rivers Politics Constitution Elections presidential Foreign relations Government Human rights Intersex LGBT Judiciary Law enforcement Military Parliament Political parties Economy Agriculture Banking Central bank Economic history Energy Euro Exports Franc ( former currency ) French subdivisions by GDP Stock exchange Taxation Telecommunications Tourism Trade unions Transport Society Crime Demographics Education Health care People Poverty Religion Social class Welfare Culture Architecture Art Cinema ( comedy ) Cuisine Fashion Gardens Language Literature Media Music Philosophy Public holidays Sport Symbols Theatre Outline Book Portal WikiProject Elections in Europe Sovereign states Albania Andorra Armenia Austria Azerbaijan Belarus Belgium Bosnia and Herzegovina Bulgaria Croatia Cyprus Czech Republic Denmark Estonia Finland France Georgia Germany Greece Hungary Iceland Ireland Italy Kazakhstan Latvia Liechtenstein Lithuania Luxembourg Macedonia Malta Moldova Monaco Montenegro Netherlands Norway Poland Portugal Romania Russia San Marino Serbia Slovakia Slovenia Spain Sweden Switzerland Turkey Ukraine United Kingdom Northern Ireland Scotland Wales Vatican City States with limited recognition Abkhazia Artsakh Kosovo Northern Cyprus South Ossetia Transnistria Dependencies and other entities Åland Faroe Islands Gibraltar Guernsey Isle of Man Jersey Svalbard Other entities European Union Politics of France portal Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Elections_in_France&oldid=795988532 '' Categories : Elections in France Hidden categories : CS1 French - language sources ( fr ) Use dmy dates from September 2011 All articles with vague or ambiguous time Vague or ambiguous time from November 2016 Use dmy dates from June 2017 Talk Contents About Wikipedia Čeština Ελληνικά فارسی Français Nederlands 日本 語 Português Română Suomi ไทย Türkçe Edit links This page was last edited on 17 August 2017, at 19 : 38. 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Question: who has the right to vote in france
Answer: French citizens over the age of 18 registered on the electoral rolls