On April 10 and 24, the French will elect their next President of the Republic for a five-year term, renewable only once. It is a single-member majority vote with two rounds. Explanation about the financing, the guarantees, the participation in the vote, the deadlines for the candidacies and the intervention times.
This year, French voters must choose a new president of the Republic or renew the mandate of the current head of state for a final five years.
Voting will take place on April 10 and 24 by direct universal suffrage. France 24 takes a look at the fundamental issues to better understand the rules that govern this important election.
Who can be a candidate?
Certain conditions must be met. To be a candidate, you must have French nationality, be of legal age – that is, be at least 18 years old – be registered on the electoral lists, not be deprived of your eligibility rights by a court decision, not be under guardianship or guardianship and have complied with the obligations imposed by the French National Service code.
Last condition: the candidate must show signs of “moral dignity”. A somewhat vague notion that has never been precisely defined.
On the other hand, to be a candidate you need 500 endorsements from elected officials. These guarantees must come from at least 30 different overseas departments or collectivities. The purpose of this obligation is to eliminate applications considered unserious.
These guarantees can be granted by: members of Parliament (deputies and senators); the mayors of the districts of Paris, Lyon and Marseille; the presidents of the metropolises, urban communities, agglomeration communities and communities of communes; the councilors of Paris and the metropolis of Lyon; the departmental and regional advisers; the territorial councilors of Saint Barthélemy, Saint Martin and Saint Pierre and Miquelon; the elected members of the Assemblies of Corsica, Guyana, Martinique, French Polynesia, the Provincial Assemblies of New Caledonia and the Territorial Assembly of Wallis and Futuna; the president of the executive council of Corsica, the president of the executive council of Martinique, the president of French Polynesia and the president of the government of New Caledonia; the councilors of the Assembly of French Abroad or the presidents of consular councils.
Finally, the candidates must send to the Constitutional Council a declaration of their patrimonial situation and a declaration of interests and activities, made public by the Authority for the Transparency of Public Life (HATVP, for its acronym in French).
This year, the deadline to submit the candidacy was March 4. The Constitutional Council published on Monday, March 7, the official list of candidates.
What are the financing rules?
The financing of electoral campaigns has an established maximum limit. For the 2022 election, it was established at 16,851,000 euros for the candidates present in the first round and in 22,509,000 euros for those who are present in the second round.
The State reimburses 47.5% of the maximum limit of expenses in the case of candidates who obtain at least 5% of the votes. For others, the reimbursement does not exceed 4.75% of the maximum limit. The rest of the financing must come from private funds, in particular from parties and donations from individuals. Companies are no longer allowed to make donations. Each individual can donate up to 4,600 euros per year.
As for loans, only those granted by political parties or by banks whose headquarters are in the European economic area are allowed. A novelty for 2022: now a foreign state or a non-European bank is prohibited from lending money to a candidate or to a match.
Finally, candidates are required to have a campaign account that must be submitted to the National Commission for Campaign Accounts and Political Financing (CNCCFP, for its French acronym) within two months of the election. This entity is responsible for controlling and ensuring compliance with the maximum limit of expenses. In case of infraction, economic and penal sanctions are foreseen.
Who can participate in the vote?
French persons who are at least 18 years of age, turned in no later than the day before the first round of voting, who enjoy all their civil and political rights and who are registered on the electoral lists, are authorized to vote in the presidential election.
It is possible to register on the electoral lists no later than the sixth Friday preceding the eve of the election, that is, Friday March 4 for this year.
People in a particular situation (18th birthday in the last weeks of the campaign, moving, acquiring French nationality, regained the right to vote) can register up to the tenth day before the first round of the election.
How will the election and the electoral campaign unfold?
It is a uninominal majority ballot with two rounds by direct universal suffrage. To be elected, a candidate must obtain an absolute majority of the votes cast. No minimum participation is required. If no candidate obtains an absolute majority in the first round, a second round is held between the two candidates in first place. The dates for the 2022 presidential election are April 10 and 24. The President of the Republic is elected for a term of five years, renewable only once.
Regarding the electoral campaign, a rule of equity prevails among the candidates in the time of intervention in the audiovisual media from the publication of the list of candidates by the Constitutional Council until the start of the official campaign, whose date was established this year for the second Monday before the first round, that is, on Monday, March 28.
During this period, the audiovisual media must distribute the speaking times based on the representativeness of the candidates, which is valued taking into account the results obtained in the previous elections and opinion polls.
Later, between the beginning of the official campaign and the last Friday before the day of the count, that is to say on Friday, April 8 of this year, these same media must observe a strict rule of equality in the time of intervention.
This article was adapted from its French original
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