File n° 12 

I. – voting method and nature of the election 

1. – Election by uninominal majority in two rounds 

M.P.s are elected by direct, universal suffrage using a uninominal majority system in two rounds. There are 577 constituencies (555 in metropolitan France and 22 overseas).

In order to be elected on the first round, a candidate must obtain an absolute majority (i.e. more than half the votes cast) and a number of ballots equal at least to one quarter of the voters enrolled. If no candidate is thus elected then a second round is required. Only those candidates who have obtained a number of ballots in the first round equal at least to 12.5 % of the voters enrolled, may stand in this second round. In the second round a relative majority is enough for election. Thus the candidate with the highest number of votes is deemed elected.

In all cases, the election is held on a Sunday with the second round, when necessary, taking place on the Sunday following the first round.

The constituencies, drawn up by the Electoral Code within each department, take into account the size of the population. Their number thus ranges, depending on the department, from 2 to 24.

All French people of either sex over the age of eighteen may vote, provided they have not been deprived of their civil and political rights and provided that they are not in a state of legal incapacity.

2. – Local election but national representation

M.P.s are national representatives. Although each of them is elected in a single constituency, they each represent the entire nation.

As M.P.s are not legally bound by any legal commitment, they are free to decide on their orientation in the exercise of their office. No binding instruction is allowed.

3. – Length of term

a)  A Five-year Term

The National Assembly is entirely renewed, in principle, every five years. Thus the powers of the National Assembly expire (the Institutional Law no. 2001-419 of May 15, 2001 having modified the expiry date of the powers of the National Assembly), “on the third Tuesday of June of the fifth year following its election” and general elections must take place within the sixty days preceding this date.

b)  By-elections

The electoral system limits the number of by-elections by making provision for the election, at the same time as that of the M.P., of a substitute who will replace the M.P. in the case of his death, appointment to Government or to the Constitutional Council or if he is given a temporary mission by the Government and such a mission is extended beyond six months.

Thus by-elections are held only in the other cases when a seat becomes vacant (annulment of the election by a judge, dismissal, resignation or the election of the M.P. to the Senate). Such a by-election must take place within a period of three months maximum dating from the event leading to the seat becoming vacant. Such a limit is intended to guarantee a speedy return to the normal functioning of parliamentary institutions.

Nevertheless, no by-election may take place within the twelve months preceding the expiry of the powers of the National Assembly.

c)  The Exercise of the Right to Dissolve by the President of the Republic

In addition, the President of the Republic may decide to exercise the right to dissolve, granted to him by article 12 of the Constitution.

In this case, the general elections must take place at the earliest twenty days and at the latest, forty days after the publication of the decree proclaiming the dissolution.

II. – conditions of candidacy and eligibility of candidates

All French people of either sex, over the age of twenty-three may be candidates and may be elected provided they are not deemed legally incapacitated or ineligible.

1. –  Ineligibility of an individual

Certain categories of people may not be elected :

―  Those with the status of protected adult, or those under wardship or guardianship ;

―  Those with a criminal conviction and deprived of civil rights ;

―  Those declared personally bankrupt, prohibited from managing a company or in official receivership.

―  Similarly no person not having fulfilled his national service obligations may be elected to Parliament.

2. –  Ineligibility on account of one’s function

Certain people, whose professions or offices could grant them an unfair advantage in an election, thus creating a clear imbalance between the candidates, are excluded from being elected.

The law states the offices or professions concerned as well as the geographical range and the length of such ineligibility to be elected. Therefore :

—    The State Ombudsman is ineligible for election in all constituencies ;

—    Prefects are ineligible for election in the constituencies which fall within their sphere of office or offices which they have held within the previous three years ;

―    The following may not be elected in any constituency which falls within the sphere in which they have carried out their office during the previous six months :

• Judges ;

• Officers with a territorial command ;

• Certain civil servants with managerial or monitoring positions in the foreign, regional and departmental services of the State.

III. – election campaigns and their financing

1. – The rules of the campaign

The running of an election campaign is entirely the responsibility of the candidates and is usually dependent on certain objective criteria (size of the constituency, town-country ratio etc.). In this field which is at the very heart of democracy, freedom is essential and prohibitions must be kept to the very minimum. Thus the candidates can, in principle, meet the population, hold meetings or distribute leaflets as they so wish.

Nonetheless the following are forbidden :

• Over-zealous postering, as special space is given over in each area, during the election campaign, for putting forward one’s platform.

• The use for electioneering of commercial advertising either by means of the press or television and radio.

Abuses committed during the election campaign (e.g. defamation, support by officials, intimidation etc.) are punishable by the judge in charge of supervising the fairness of the election.

This supervision is of a pragmatic nature and aims at assessing if, during the campaign, the rule of equality between candidates has been broken by irregular procedures. Thus the widespread circulation of a leaflet containing false allegations on the day before an election would certainly lead to the invalidation of the election, especially if the result were very close. However the judge would certainly decide that the communication of defamatory material has had no effect on the election if the candidate who is called into question has had the time to reply and if the margin of victory were to be very wide.

2. – The financing of electoral expenditure

As regards the financing of his election campaign, every candidate at a general election must follow organizational rules and provisions which limit, both from a quantitative and qualitative point of view, the money which can be spent. The adherence to such rules and provisions is necessary for the subsequent reimbursement of part of his expenses as well as for, in certain cases, the very validation of the election (see electoral litigation).

a)  The Appointment of a ‘Representative’ and the Setting-up of a Campaign Account

During the year prior to the election (or counting from the date of the dissolution decree), the gathering of the funding necessary for the election must be placed under the responsibility of a representative especially appointed to do so. Such funds must be placed in accounts set up for this purpose.

The representative can be, depending on the choice of the candidate, either a natural person or an association dealing with electoral financing. In either case, the representative must open and manage a deposit account set up specifically for the financial operations of the campaign.

Every candidate in a general election, whether he is elected or not, must set up a campaign account which records all incoming and outgoing financial operations linked to the election. This account must also include (both as regards revenue and expenditure) the financial equivalent of all the fringe benefits, benefits in kind and services which the candidate has received during his campaign.

The campaign account must be either in the black or break even. It cannot be in the red. It must be passed by a certified accountant and communicated, along with all pertaining documents, within two months of the day of the election, to the National Committee on Campaign Accounts and Political Financing which will either approve or reject it in the six months following its filing.

b) Supervising Expenditure and Revenue

In order to reduce the increase in election campaign expenditure and to maintain openness as well as to limit the number of private donations in the financing of campaigns, the law has established several boundaries.

As regards funding :

―  Only political groupings which, as beneficiaries of public financing or having a financial representative, are under the supervision of the National Committee on Campaign Accounts and Political Financing, can be involved in the financing of candidates’ campaigns ;

―  The involvement of a legal entity in the financing of a candidate’s electoral campaign is prohibited. This is the case for companies, public entities, associations or trade unions and applies to whatever form of financial involvement this might be (gifts, provision of goods, services or other) ;

―  Gifts from individuals have an upper limit of €4,600 and every gift over €150 must be payable by cheque. In addition, the total amount of gifts made in cash must be less than or equal to one fifth of the limit of expenditure allowed (article L.52-8 of the Electoral Code).

As regards expenditure :

―  In 1993, the law reduced the limit for authorized expenditure from €76,000 to €38,000 plus an allowance of €0.15 per inhabitant of the constituency (article L.52-11 of the Electoral Code  ;

― This limit is updated every three years in order to take the rise in the cost of living into account. It was multiplied by a factor of 1.18 by Decree no. 2005-1114 of August 31, 2005.

In addition to a reimbursement of election campaign expenditure, the law grants candidates who have obtained at least 5% of the votes cast in the first round of the election, a fixed reimbursement concerning their campaign expenditure.

To take advantage of this, the candidate who is proclaimed elected must :

―  Remain within the legal limits as regards the opening and the accounting of the campaign account and as regards the limit on electoral expenditure ;

― Be able to prove that he has lodged his declaration of estate with the Committee for the Financial Transparency of Political Life.

The amount reimbursed is equal to the amount of expenditure which, according to the campaign account, has been actually spent by the candidate or represents his personal debt. Nonetheless this amount cannot exceed one half of the legal limit on electoral expenditure.

IV. – election litigation procedure

The Constitutional Council must watch over the fairness of parliamentary elections. Thus it makes rulings on eligibility to be elected, on the holding of the elections and on the respect of the rules on the financing of campaigns.

1. – Litigation regarding eligibility to be elected

As regards matters of eligibility, the Constitutional Council is called upon to make rulings after appeal on the decisions of the administrative courts. It only rules on ineligibility to be elected and once this has been ascertained the ruling is binding in every case. When called upon to make such a ruling, the Constitutional Council does so concerning both the candidate and his substitute.

2. – Litigation regarding electoral operations

The procedure concerning electoral operations deals with both the balance of campaign funding and the fairness of the holding of the election itself.

As regards the campaign itself, the electoral code is particularly strict since, outside of that which is allowed (sending official documents and postering in authorized places), everything else is prohibited. In concrete terms, the Constitutional Council judges the impact of irregularities on the outcome of the election less on the abuse of campaigning itself and more on the imbalance between the candidates which can result from it.

Since the Constitutional Council thus deals with the real issues of electoral operations (it judges the actual holding of the election, the opening of the ballot boxes, as well as the count), its remit is very broad. This may lead it, when it notes an irregularity or electoral fraud which has a significant impact on the election result, to modify the results or even, when necessary, to declare the election void.

3. – Litigation regarding the financing of general elections

The litigation procedure regarding the financing of general elections deals, first of all, with the supervising of the campaign account. The electoral code makes provision for the ineligibility for election for one year of any candidate who has not presented his campaign account according to the conditions and within the limits laid down.

If the judge notes a major error in the presentation of the account, he has no leeway : he must declare the candidate ineligibile to be elected. This is the case when no such campaign account is presented, when it is not received by the préfecture within the two-month limit, if it is not passed by a certified accountant or if the documents pertaining to funding and expenditure are not provided. Jurisprudence is particularly strict in requiring that the campaign account and the corresponding bank account be exhaustive, correct and consolidated.

However, the electoral code grants the judge leeway in his declaration if the candidate in question has exceeded the limit for expenditure, since, in this case, the judge is under no obligation to declare the ineligibility for election of the candidate, although he may do so.

Nonetheless, since the ineligibility for election is declared for a year from the day of the judgement, the candidate who has been elected and lost his seat is thus deprived of the possibility of standing again in the by-election which will follow the invalidation of the election.