How many people run for president in France? What are the different parties? This BBC article about the 2022 election includes a helpful image of the French electoral process. Le second tour is the run-off election in which voters can only vote for one of the two candidates who received the most votes.

If a president wins more than 50 percent of the vote in the first tour (round), they’re elected, but that’s never happened. It’s popular, however, in eastern Europe as well as Central Asia, South America and Africa. (April 10th and 24th this year.) A lot of our students find this strange and we can see why! The two round-system is pretty rare in the West Portugal is the only other Western European country that uses it. įrench voters always go to the polls on two Sundays, two weeks apart. You can also read a list of the funniest votes nul here. (Don’t forget to turn on the French subtitles!) The video discusses the rise in the number of these ballots in the last few elections. Practice your French: Watch this Le Monde video about “ le ballot blanc ” here.For instance, someone could put a piece of paper in their ballot envelope that says “Homer Simpson” on it, which would make it nul (void). Un vote nul means that the ballot has a problem. Un ballot blanc is a ballot that’s left blank as a deliberate protest. You may have heard of le vote blanc and le vote nul.Polls generally close at 6 or 7 pm, except in large cities, where they close at 8 pm. Finally, your carte électorale (see photo above) is stamped with the day’s date. The official says, “ A voté ! ” (“Voted!”) and you sign a sheet. A polling official then checks that you have only put one envelope in it. You place your ballot in the envelope and then you put it in a transparent urne (ballot box). After your identity is verified, you’re given an official envelope and you go into a booth. Starting at 8 am on an election day, voters head to their assigned polling locations. Voters can read about the candidates (you receive detailed pamphlets about each one before the election) and then choose one ballot to cast. This may sound a little old-fashioned to Americans, but, in France every registered voter receives an envelope in the mail containing as many bulletins de vote (ballots) as there are candidates. Meanwhile, in the US, Biden raised over a billion dollars!Īll French adults who are at least 18 and registered to vote can go to the polls. In 2022, a first-round presidential candidate could spend no more than about 16 million euros on his or her campaign. France fact: French campaign financing is strictly regulated. Practice your French: Watch this short video called “Comment fait-on pour être candidat aux élections présidentielles ?” (How do you become a presidential candidate?).(Check out this France24 article to learn more about why 500 are required.) Like in the US, presidents can only serve two terms, but each term is 5 years long – called “un quinquennat”. What’s interesting to note is that in the US you have to be at least 35 to run for president, but in France you only have to be 18! This year, a 22-year-old announced his candidacy, but ultimately dropped out of the race.īesides being over 18, to run for president in France you have to present the signatures of 500 elected officials–from at least 30 French departments or overseas territories–to France’s Constitutional Council. All of them have been pretty old, too, although Macron is only 44. Since the first round of l’élection présidentielle will take place this coming Sunday, April 10th, we’ve put together an article that breaks down everything you might want to know about how voting and elections work in France! By Sophia MillmanĪs we pointed out in our article about famous French women politicians, all of France’s presidents have been white men. You can read it here ! You might also be interested in reading Lauren Collins’ article “ Translating the French Election ” about the new Le Monde column. If you’re a fan of Le Monde, you may know that this year the newspaper created its first English-language column to cover the French election.

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