On June 12 and 19, the French men and women will elect the 577 deputies of the National Assembly. Here are the main election dates.
May 4 and 6: deadlines for registration on the electoral lists
People who are not registered on the electoral lists have until May 4 to do so online, until May 6 to do so at town hall or by mail. These dates are advanced for Polynesia and French people living abroad. More information is available on the administration website.
May 16-20: application period
Candidates for a deputy seat have Monday, May 16 until Friday, May 20, at 6 p.m., to submit their application to the prefecture. This consists of a signed declaration containing the following elements: surname, first names, sex, date and place of birth, address and profession. The candidate must prove that he is over 18 years of age and that he is a qualified voter; he must also appoint a financial agent.
A similar declaration must also be filed for the person called upon to take the place of the candidate if his seat becomes vacant – the substitute –, for example if the deputy decides to campaign, subsequently, in municipal elections.
May 30: opening of the official campaign
The official election campaign begins on the second Monday preceding the date of the poll. This year it is May 30. As of this date, each municipality must offer candidates reserved poster spaces. The official campaign also begins on radio and television for the parties presenting candidates.
June 12: first round of voting in France
The elections take place, in metropolitan France, on the seventh Sunday following the publication of the decree summoning the electorate. It will therefore be June 12, the decree in question having appeared on April 26. In Polynesia, the first round will take place on June 4, and the second round on June 18. Voters from Guadeloupe, Guyana, Martinique, Saint-Barthélemy, Saint-Martin and Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon will vote in the first round. June 11, and the second on June 18.
The general election is uninominal majority, which means that the candidate who obtains the most votes wins to the exclusion of all the others. To win in the first round, it is necessary to obtain not only an absolute majority of the votes, but also that the number of votes obtained is equal to 25% of the registered voters.
June 19: second round
If no candidate has won in the first round, a second round is organised. Can compete the candidates who received, in the first, a number of votes at least equal to 12.5% of the registered voters. They are therefore not necessarily only two, which opens the way to what are called triangular, when three candidates reach the second round, or even quadrangular, when there are four. In these scenarios, it may happen that, of two politically close candidates, one withdraws in favor of the other, so as to block their common competitor.
On the other hand, if only one candidate, in the first round, satisfies the condition of 12.5%, the candidate who comes second obtains the right to access the second round. If no candidate exceeds 12.5% of registered voters, then it is the two candidates who came out on top in the first round who go on to the second.
To win in the second round, the relative majority is enough. In the event of a tie – which is statistically highly improbable – the oldest candidate is elected.
After the ballot: time for reckoning
Campaign spending is capped at 38,000 euros per candidate, plus 0.15 euros per inhabitant of the constituency. On paper, the candidates therefore do not all have the same budget depending on the population of their territory; but, in practice, as the constituencies are divided up in such a way as to include roughly the same number of voters, the expenditure ceiling is around 70,000 euros for each candidate.
Failing to win a seat, the candidates expect at least to exceed 5% of the votes cast in the first round. This threshold triggers the reimbursement by the State of propaganda expenditure (official leaflets, posters on electoral panels and ballots), as well as a lump sum equal to 47.5% of the expenditure ceiling.