Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1956-01-02
French Swarm
ToPoIIs 10 Vote
For Assembly
Record Total Of 5, 300
Candidates Running
For 544 Scots

PARIS, Jan. 2 (P.-Swelling
crowds of French voters, includ-
ing an unusually large turnout
of women, gathered around poll
ing places today as France
elected its third National As
sembly since the World War II
liberation.
The weather ranged from
scattered sunshine in the south
to gloomy skies in the north and
snow in the mountainous Jura
district of Premier Edgar Faure,
but nowhere did it deter the
voters.
In Jura snowplows were out
on the roads early and in some
cases voters arrived on skis.
Despite rousing campaign
pledges of stable government
and action to hold on to the
restless empire, political OBJ
servers saw little chance the new
Assembly will be much different
from the old.
$500 Seeking Office
There were 544 seats at stake
in continental France and a
record $500 candidates seeking
them. There also was a record
number of eligible voters-26.-
871,688.
Voters in overseas areas name
SO deputies today. Two others
one from New Caledonia and
one from the Society Islands in
the Pacific. will be elected later
this month.
In Algeria. where 80 deputies
normally would be elected, vot-
ing was postponed Indefinitely
because of a terrorist campaign
by nationalist extremists.
Despite the possibility of sur
prises, what most political OBJ
servers expected was an Assembly
even more divided and uncon-
trollable than the last one. With
no group claiming a majority,
any cabinet must be pieced to-
gether from half a dozen diff
ferent parties. The arithmetic
of French politics makes it in
evitable that handsful of Depu-
ties will switch their allegiance
temporarily to one leader or
another, depending on the speci-
fic issue to be decided.
Two Main Issues
The two main issues foreshad-
owed in the campaign were:
/. What to do about rebellious
and potentially rebellious over
seas territories.
2. How TO prevent cabinets
from changing every few
months.
The campaign developed into
q three-cornered battle among:
l.. Premier Edgar Faure'sI
right of-center coalition, which
was expected to win something
considerably less than a clear
majority.
2. Former Premier Pierre
Mendes frances left-of center
grouping. which will be doing
well to get a third of the seats.
8. The Communists. They
were expected to increase their
strength about one-fifth in the
Assembly because of the failure
of other groups to unite against
them this time. A fourth group
battled both Mr.. Faure and Mr..
Mendes France, breaking up
many meetings of their sup
porters, but its voting strength
was a subject of debate. It's
hundreds of candidates were
pledged to support the ideas of
Pierre Poujade. leader of
movement of small merchants
N an anticipating campaign.
Mr.. Poujade was not a candi-
date himself and he put forward
no program.
Will Resign January IS
Mr.. Faure's caretaker regime
will hand in its resignation jan
uary Is and President Rene Coty
whose job is not at stake-will
ask Mr.. Faure or someone else
to form new cabinet.
Polls generally were open un-
til 6 pm. In some districts voters
get an extra hour or two in the
evening. Counting of votes starts
Immediately after the polls close
With the complex system of
proportional representation used
In France, 1t was expected that
no trends would become clear