It will have to be an express campaign. After the spectacular victory of the far right, which came out on top in 93% of France’s towns in the European elections on Sunday, June 9, the dissolution of the Assemblée Nationale announced that same evening by French President Emmanuel Macron marks the start of a new campaign, shorter than ever, to elect 577 MPs on a particularly tight schedule.
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Article 12 of the Constitution stipulates that in the event of a dissolution of the Assemblée Nationale, France’s lower house of Parliament, “general elections shall be held not less than 20 days and not more than 40 days” after the president’s decision. Macron chose the shorter period of 20 days. The first round of the elections will take place on Sunday, June 30, from 8 am to 6 pm (8 pm in major cities), and from Saturday, June 29, in French overseas territories. The second round is scheduled for July 7, at the start of the summer school vacations and shortly before the start of the Paris Olympic Games.
The official electoral campaign, during which the specific rules of the electoral code apply, particularly in terms of communication and speaking time on French media, will begin on Monday, June 17 at midnight, details the decree published on Monday. On this date, the commissions responsible for sending out and distributing all election propaganda documents will be put in place.
This exceptional timetable is causing anxiety among some mayors. “The sudden decision by the president to dissolve the Assemblée Nationale and to convene the electorate within a timeframe unprecedented in the history of the Republic is giving rise to real concern among many mayors about the ability of communes to organize these two elections under satisfactory conditions,” warned the Association of French Mayors on Monday. In particular, the association pointed to the difficulty of finding polling stewards “due to the massive disengagement of candidates and political parties from offering volunteers.”
Applications submitted by Sunday evening
The timing is particularly tight for candidates. They can file their candidacies with the prefecture from Wednesday, “until Sunday, June 16, at 4 pm,” according to the decree convening voters signed by Macron last Sunday. Declarations of candidacy for the second round must be made by July 2.
This deadline is considerably shorter than usual. According to the electoral code, declarations of candidacy must normally be submitted “no later than 6 pm on the fourth Friday before polling day.” Given the timetable unveiled by the president, this deadline would have been Friday, June 7, in other words, before the announcement of the dissolution.
Too late to register to vote
“The election will take place on the basis of the electoral lists drawn up on the date of the decree,” in other words June 9, the Interior Ministry told Le Monde. “This therefore means that there is no additional deadline for registering on the lists.” As the election has been announced for June 30, the usual deadline of the fourth Friday before the election as a registration deadline cannot be implemented. “On the other hand, all those who registered between May 3 (registration deadline for the European elections) and the decree of June 9 are indeed registered for the legislative elections,” the ministry pointed out.
People who turn 18 between now and June 29, the day before the first round, will be able to vote. Registration is automatic, provided that the voter has completed their citizen census at age 16.
For these early legislative elections, it is possible, as for all elections, to vote by proxy. This system is likely to be particularly popular this time around, with the second round taking place during school vacations. Interested voters must give proxy to another person (the proxy) who is registered on the electoral rolls to vote in their place. The proxy can only receive one proxy issued in France (and two issued abroad, or one in France and one abroad).
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Two procedures are planned. For the European elections, the government had introduced a “fully dematerialized” system to sign up for proxy voting, for the first time, via a government website. The usual system, with a paper form, which requires a visit to a police station, gendarmerie or magistrates’ court, also remains valid. Proxies can be given up to the day before the vote, which would mean June 29, for the first round and July 6 for the second. However, the administration advises that this should be done as soon as possible, as there is a risk that the proxy will not be able to vote if the municipality does not receive the proxy in time.
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Translation of an original article published in French on lemonde.fr; the publisher may only be liable for the French version.
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Publish date : 2024-06-13 03:00:06
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