How do The Elections Work in France?

Author: Chantal

Learn about the presidential elections in France and practice your French with this free French story + hide/reveal English translations.

Before you read this French English bilingual article, you may want to read this other article about the French voting vocabulary.

How Does the French Presidential Election Work?

Use the floating blue icon in the bottom right to hide/reveal the English translations below or just click here.

Je vais vous expliquer comment nous votons en France :

I am going to explain you how we vote in France.

Le PrĂ©sident de la RĂ©publique est Ă©lu au suffrage universel direct. Cela veut dire qu’il est Ă©lu directement par tous les citoyens qui ont la nationalitĂ© française, et qui ont au moins 18 ans.

The president is elected by direct universal suffrage. This means that he is directly elected by all the citizens who have the French nationality and who are at least 18 years old.

Son mandat durera 5 ans. C’est un quinquennat.

His term of office will last 5 years. It’s a five-year term.

In 2017 premier tour des Ă©lections est fixĂ© au dimanche 23 avril et le second tour aura lieu le dimanche 7 mai. Eh oui, c’est toujours un dimanche !

In 2017, the first round of the elections is set on Sunday 23 April and the second round will take place on Sunday 7 May. Yes, it’s always on a Sunday!

French Right and Left Parties: Avoid a Common Mistake

Mes Ă©tudiants AmĂ©ricains ne comprennent gĂ©nĂ©ralement pas qu’en France, nous avons une Ă©chelle de partis politiques beaucoup plus large qu’aux États-Unis. Ils pensent que “la droite” = the Republicans, et “la gauche” = the Democrats. Mais ce n’est pas vrai.

My American students usually don’t understand that in France, we have a much larger scale of political parties than in the US. They think “the right” = the Republicans, “the left” = the Democrats. But it’s not true.

En France, la droite inclut les RĂ©publicains, et un parti beaucoup plus extrĂȘme droite, le parti de Mme Le Pen qui est trĂšs protectionniste et radical.

In France, la droite includes the Republicans, and a much farther extreme right party, the one from Mrs Le Pen which is quite protectionist and radical.

Nous n’avons pas vraiment de dĂ©mocrates: ce seraient nos partis du centre, plus ou moins capitalistes ou socialistes, mais toujours modĂ©rĂ©s.

We don’t really have “Democrats”: they would be our center parties, more capitalist or socialist but always moderate.

Et puis, la Gauche française est socialiste, ou mĂȘme communiste. Des IdĂ©ologies qui ne sont plus reprĂ©sentĂ©es aux Etats-Unis.

Then the French left is socialist, to communist. Ideologies that are no longer represented in the US.

Donc, quand la France passe d’un prĂ©sident de gauche Ă  un prĂ©sident de droite, l’effet est encore plus drastique que lorsque les E.U. passent d’un prĂ©sident dĂ©mocrate Ă  un prĂ©sident rĂ©publicain.

So, when Frances goes from a left wing president to a right wing president, the effect is even more drastic than when the US go from a Democrat to a Republican president.

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Why Are There 2 Rounds For the French Election?

Pourquoi y a-t-il 2 tours ?

Why are there 2 rounds?

Nous avons 2 tours pour donner une rĂ©elle lĂ©gitimitĂ© Ă  notre PrĂ©sident avec plus de 50 % des voix car s’il n’y avait qu’un tour, il ou elle serait Ă©lu avec un peu plus de 25 % Ă  cause du nombre des candidats. Il ne reprĂ©senterait qu’un français sur 4 !

We have 2 rounds to give real legitimacy to our President with more than 50% of the votes because if there was only one round, s/he would be elected with a bit more than 25 % because of the number of candidates. He would represent only one on for French person.

Le second tour permet aux diffĂ©rents partis de « s’associer Â» ou de donner leur consigne de vote afin de bloquer certains partis extrĂȘmes. Les Français utilisent souvent le premier tour pour montrer leur mĂ©contentement en votant « extrĂȘme Â» !

The second round gives the opportunity to the different parties to « associate Â» or give their voting instructions in order to block certain extreme parties. The French often use the first round to show their dissatisfaction by voting « Extreme Â»!

Mais il faut savoir que si un candidat obtient 51% au premier tour, alors il devient PrĂ©sident et il n’y a pas de second tour !

But if a candidate gets 51% of the votes at the first round, he becomes President and there is no second round !

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How Does a Typical Election Day in France Go?

Comment cela se passe-t-il ?

How does it go?

Quelques jours avant le vote, nous aurons reçu le programme de tous les candidats, ansi que les feuilles de vote avec le nom des candidats.

A few days before the vote, we will have received the program of all the candidates, as well as the voting sheet with the name of the candidates.

Le jour du vote, nous allons au bureau de vote qui est souvent la Mairie ou l’école prĂšs de notre domicile. Une personne contrĂŽle notre piĂšce d’identitĂ© et notre carte d’électeur.

On the voting day, we go to the polling station which often is the Town Hall or the school close to our home. A person checks our ID and our voter’s card.

Chaque candidat est reprĂ©sentĂ© par une feuille. Nous devons prendre toutes les feuilles et une enveloppe, et nous diriger vers l’isoloir car le vote est secret (mais en fait, vous faites ce que vous voulez). L’isoloir, c’est une petite cabine fermĂ©e par un rideau.

Each candidate is represented by a sheet. We must take all the sheets and one envelop and go to the polling booth because the vote is secret (but in reality, you do whatever you want). The polling booth is a small cabin closed by a curtain.

AprĂšs avoir mis la feuille avec notre candidat et fermĂ© l’enveloppe, nous allons vers la table oĂč se situe l’urne transparente. Il y a trois personne derriĂšre la table. Nous donnons Ă  nouveau notre piĂšce d’identitĂ© et notre carte Ă©lectorale et la premiĂšre personne dit notre nom tout haut. Une autre personne nous cherche dans le registre et quand elle nous trouve, elle dit “peut voter”. Alors nous glissons l’enveloppe dans l’urne et une troisiĂšme personne dit “a votĂ©â€. Enfin, nous signons le registre des Ă©lecteurs pour prouver que nous avons votĂ© mĂȘme si en France, il n’est pas obligatoire de voter.

After placing the sheet with our candidate and closing the envelope, we go to the table where the transparent urn is located. There are three people behind the table. We give again our ID and voter’s card and the first person says our name out loud. Another person looks us up in the register and when s/he find us, says “is allowed to vote”. We then slip the envelope into the ballot box and a third person announces “has voted”. Finally, we sign the voter’s register to prove we have voted even if in France, voting is not an obligation.

Qu’est-ce qu’on fait des autres feuilles ? On les jette à la poubelle – de recyclage j’espùre !!

What do we do with the other sheets? We throw them away in the bin – the recycling bin I hope!!

Les bureaux de vote ferment entre 18h et 20h, et ensuite, c’est le « dĂ©pouillement Â». Tout le monde peut assister au dĂ©pouillement, d’ailleurs, il y a toujours beaucoup de monde ! Certains seront déçus, et d’autres feront la fĂȘte ! Alors, Champagne ou pas Champagne ?

The polling station close between 6 and 8PM, and then, it’s the counting. Everyone can attend the counting, by the way, there are always a lot of people! Some will be disappointed and others will party! So, Champagne or not Champagne?

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Author: Chantal

Chantal

Bonjour ! My name is Chantal, I'm an immersion French teacher and I live in Picardie - only 40 minutes away from Paris by train. Come experience a real French lifestyle, discover my region and improve your French with me.

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