Presidential election in France

The presidential election in France determines the person who will be designated president of the Republic for a five years mandate. This mandate is often called Quinquennat since 2002. Previously, it was about one septennate, i.e. a seven years mandate.

The election of 2002 was held the April 21st and May 5th 2002; that of 2007 the April 22nd and May 6th 2007.

Characteristics

Course of the poll

The unfolding of the presidential election is fixed by the articles 6, 7 and 58 French constitution.

Since the referendum of 1962, the presidential ballot is held by the direct uninominal vote for all. If a candidate obtains the Absolute majority votes cast (half of these votes plus a voice) with the first turn, he is elected. In the contrary case, a second turn is organized to decide between the two candidates who obtained the best results with the first turn. There, the candidate who obtains the simple majority is elected.

In practice, a second round of poll was always necessary, no candidate not having never exceeded 50% of the votes cast with the first turn (Charles de Gaulle obtained 44,6% at the time of the election of 1965, the maximum met until today).

The results of the poll are proclaimed by the Constitutional council which has also the responsibility of take care of the regularity of the election.

Date

The constitution fixes one period maximum during which the presidential election must take place: at least twenty days and thirty-five days with more before the expiry of the capacities of the President-in-Office. In the event of vacancy of the capacity (for example at the time of the death of the President-in-Office), it takes place at least twenty days and thirty-five days with more after the opening of the vacancy, during which the president of the Sénat becomes president of the Republic by interim.

Thus, the mandate of Jacques Chirac, re-elected the May 5th 2002, finished the May 16th 2007 at midnight. Nicolas Sarkozy, gaining elections of 2007, thus assumed the chairmanship after him.

The exact date of the election is fixed by the government. Since the death of Georges Pompidou the April 2nd 1974, the presidential election always took place in spring, the two turns having always been fixed at the end of April or during the first fortnight of May.

Voters

The presidential ballot is opened with all the voters of the national polls, i.e. with any person:

  • 18 years old or more the day of the election;

  • of French nationality;
  • which enjoys its civil laws and policies;
  • registered on the electoral rolls.

Candidates

To present itself, the candidate with the presidency of the Republic must:
  • not to be private of its Civic right concerning the eligibility;
  • to be at least 23 years old;
  • to be registered on the electoral rolls;
  • to collect at least 500 Sponsorship S of elected officials who can be:

The number of potential signatories is approximately 45.000 people including 36.000 maires.
These sponsorships must come from at least thirty departments or communities of overseas different (representatives of the French from abroad and the elected officials of the European Parliament being entered in two fictitious “departments” with whole share), without more than one tenth of them being resulting from the same department or the same community from in addition to-mer.
An elected official can sponsor one candidate and bring to this last one sponsorship, even if it cumulates various mandates.

The term of “sponsorship”, used usually, is however fallacious. In right, they are “presentations”, which changes the things considerably. Indeed, the term of “sponsorship” implies that it is up to the candidates to request and collect the Signature S, which is not the case. In theory, each elected official entitled “to introduce” a candidate does it with in an individual capacity and personnel, and in a completely autonomous way. This is why if the State does not prohibit obviously the candidates from aspiring to presentations, the Constitutional council, in all his decisions, always refused to consider that this one was to envisage some device that is to facilitate the collection by the candidates of the signatures. In the same way, it has still recently (Decision of March 22nd, 2007, NEKKAZ) to consider that it did not belong to him to come to a conclusion about the means implemented by the candidates to collect the signatures.

Only the people having been the subject of presentation (i.e. having collected at least a signature validates) can dispute the list of the candidates drawn up by the Constitutional council.

Official electoral campaign

Financing

See also: Financing of the presidential campaigns in France, Financing of the political life and electoral in France

In France, the financing of the political life and electoral operations are regulated.

The regulation has two shutters: that on the receipts and expenditure of the political parties and that on the receipts and expenditure of the electoral campaigns.

An independent administrative authority, CNCCFP, is the main actor who manages this regulation.

The details of the rules concerning the presidential campaign of 2007 were gathered in one.

The State grants play a crucial role in the countryside; they are recalled to item VI C) of the memorandum.

Thus, it is considered that the great number of “small candidates” has as a leading cause the existence of a State grant. Whatever the number of voices obtained, the “lump sum refund” is fixed by the State at least at 20th electoral expenditure maximum authorized at the first turn, either 16,166 million euros, or: 808300 euros of euros.

The threshold of the 5% of votes cast is extremely important: it makes pass the financing of the State to 50% of the ceiling of expenditure, which represents 8,083 million.

Lastly, the campaigns can be financed only by contributions of natural persons (limited to: 4600 € per anybody) and of political parties; what reinforces the role of the parties.

Provisions specific to the televised interventions

August 1st
See also: Debate televised of the second turn of the French presidential election

History

Second Republic

See also: French presidential Election of 1848

See also: presidential Election of 1848 in the department of Ardeche

Third Republic

See also: presidential Elections under the Third Republic

Fourth Republic

See also: presidential Elections under the Fourth Republic

Fifth Republic

See also: presidential Elections under the Fifth Republic

Since the beginning of the Fifth Republic, there were eight presidential elections by the universal direct suffrage and one, the first, by the indirect suffrage.

Initially, the president of the Republic was elected by the indirect suffrage by an electoral college of approximately: 80000 “Great Electors” including the members of Parliament, the general advisers and of delegated municipal councils. This provision was modified in 1962 at the time of a referendum in order to substitute a poll to him by the universal direct suffrage requiring the absolute majority of the votes cast

The initial term of the office was seven years and was reduced in 2000 at five years at the time of a referendum.

Elections presidential under the Fifth Republic (the number between brackets indicating the percentage of votes cast obtained to the second turn by the elected candidate):

Tendencies of the votes to the first turn

Here a graph showing the results of the votes to the first turn by political tendencies (the communist tendency is not taken into account in both cases where PCF integrated a left coalition).

Evolution of the abstentions

Colors= id: lightgrey been worth: Gray (0.9) id: darkgrey been worth: Gray (0.7) id: sfondo been worth: rgb (1,1,1) id: barred been worth: rgb (0.6, 0.7, 0.8)

ImageSize = width: 700 height: 380 PlotArea = left: 50 bottom: 50 signal: 30 right: 30 DateFormat = x.y Period = from: 0 till: 37 TimeAxis = orientation: vertical AlignBars = justify ScaleMajor = gridcolor: darkgrey increment: 5 start: 0 ScaleMinor = gridcolor: lightgrey increment: 5 start: 0 BackgroundColors = canvas: sfondo

BarData= bar: 0 bar: 1965 text: 1965-I bar: 19652 text: 1965-II bar: 1969 text: 1969-I bar: 19692 text: 1969-II bar: 1974 text: 1974-I bar: 19742 text: 1974-II bar: 1981 text: 1981-I bar: 19812 text: 1981-II bar: 1988 text: 1988-I bar: 19882 text: 1988-II bar: 1995 text: 1995-I bar: 19952 text: 1995-II bar: 2002 text: 2002-I bar: 20022 text: 2002-II bar: 2007 text: 2007-I bar: 20072 text: 2007-II bar: 20xx

PlotData= color: width barred: 25 align: left

bar: 0 bar: 1965 from: 0 till: 15.2 color: lightgrey bar: 19652 from: 0 till: 15.7 bar: 1969 from: 0 till: 22.4 color: lightgrey bar: 19692 from: 0 till: 31.1 bar: 1974 from: 0 till: 15.8 color: lightgrey bar: 19742 from: 0 till: 12.7 bar: 1981 from: 0 till: 18.9 color: lightgrey bar: 19812 from: 0 till: 14.1 bar: 1988 from: 0 till: 18.6 color: lightgrey bar: 19882 from: 0 till: 15.9 bar: 1995 from: 0 till: 21.6 color: lightgrey bar: 19952 from: 0 till: 20.3 bar: 2002 from: 0 till: 28.4 color: lightgrey bar: 20022 from: 0 till: 20.3 bar: 2007 from: 0 till: 16.20 color: lightgrey bar: 20072 from: 0 till: 16.0

PlotData=

bar: 0 bar: 1965 At: 16.2 fontsize: S text: 15.2 shift: (- 10) bar: 19652 At: 16.7 fontsize: S text: 15.7 shift: (- 10) bar: 1969 At: 23.4 fontsize: S text: 22.4 shift: (- 10) bar: 19692 At: 32.1 fontsize: S text: 31.1 shift: (- 10) bar: 1974 At: 16.8 fontsize: S text: 15.8 shift: (- 10) bar: 19742 At: 13.7 fontsize: S text: 12.7 shift: (- 10) bar: 1981 At: 19.9 fontsize: S text: 18.9 shift: (- 10) bar: 19812 At: 15.1 fontsize: S text: 14.1 shift: (- 10) bar: 1988 At: 19.6 fontsize: S text: 18.6 shift: (- 10) bar: 19882 At: 16.9 fontsize: S text: 15.9 shift: (- 10) bar: 1995 At: 22.6 fontsize: S text: 21.6 shift: (- 10) bar: 19952 At: 21.3 fontsize: S text: 20.3 shift: (- 10) bar: 2002 At: 29.4 fontsize: S text: 28.4 shift: (- 10) bar: 20022 At: 21.3 fontsize: S text: 20.3 shift: (- 10) bar: 2007 At: 17.2 fontsize: S text: 16.2 shift: (- 10) bar: 20072 At: 17.0 fontsize: S text: 16 shift: (- 5)

TextData= fontsize: S pos: (170,20) text: Evolution (in %) of the abstentions to the 1st turn (in gray) and to the 2nd turn (in blue)

Expression

The media often wrongly employ the term “the presidential elections” rather than the term “the presidential election”. It is necessary thus to rather say for example “the presidential election of 2007” than “the presidential elections of 2007”, “the Presidential one of 2007” rather than “the Presidential ones of 2007”, and “the election” rather than “the elections” since there is only one of them, even if it is held on two lathes. One will employ obviously plural if one wants to indicate several presidential elections (example: “presidential elections of 1995, 2002 and 2007”).

On the other hand, the terms “elections legislative”, “municipal elections”, etc will be always in the plural because there are as many elections as of districts concerned.

See too

External bonds

  • Files of the Constitutional council relating to the presidential elections 2002 and 2007.
  • presidential elections under V {{E}} Republic

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