On April 10 and 24, the French will elect their next President of the Republic from among the twelve candidates in the running. We tell you more about the calendar of the election.
[Mis à jour le 6 avril 2022, à 17h50] Only a few days left before the first round of the presidential election, this Sunday, and two weeks before the second round, on Sunday April 24. From now on, in the media, speaking time and airtime are counted. Tuesday evening, 5 of the 12 candidates were on the air on France 2, in the program Élysée 2022, Emmanuel Macron having declined the invitation to participate. Philippe Poutou did not fail to recall his absence during his first intervention. When Léa Salamé asks him how he analyzes this presidential campaign, the former worker replies: “I had a question to ask you first, whether you have heard from Macron? […] Has he disappeared?” Jean-Luc Mélenchon held his last meeting, this Tuesday, April 5, in Lille but also … in 11 other cities, thanks to the return of “holograms” of the LFI candidate. The latest polls give Emmanuel Macron in the lead in the first round, ahead of Marine Le Pen and Jean-Luc Mélenchon.The outgoing president would win by a short head in the second round, even if the gap between the two candidates is narrowing more and more at the moment. approaching the election.
The names of the 12 contenders for the supreme title have been known since March 7, 2022, the date on which the Constitutional Council officially unveiled the list of candidates for the presidential election who succeeded in obtaining the 500 sponsorships necessary to submit their candidacy before March 4. March. Since March 8, the date on which the Official Journal published this list, the media have been required to respect equal speaking time between the different candidates. Then come the dates of the presidential campaign, the elections, the investiture… To find out more, browse our paper dedicated to the main dates of the electoral calendar.
What date of the presidential campaign?
The official campaign began this year on March 28, 2022, in application of the rules governing the holding of the presidential election under the Fifth Republic: the official electoral campaign must indeed open on the second Monday preceding the first round of ballot, and that it ceases the day before the ballot. It should be noted that there is also a “reserve period” during which the members of the government must refrain from any travel in the exercise of their functions so as not to interfere in the electoral campaign: it began on March 18.
In fact, the candidates begin their “unofficial” campaign much earlier, by organizing meetings, TV speeches, meetings with the French. They are, however, required to respect the official launch date of the official campaign for the first round… But also that of its closure, April 9, 2022, the date on which the media are no longer authorized to publish electoral polls, while the candidates can no longer express themselves either in the press or publicly. To take into account the time difference, the end of the official campaign for the first round in Guadeloupe, Guyana, Martinique, in Saint-Pierre and Miquelon, Saint-Barthélemy, Saint-Martin, in French Polynesia and in the embassies and consular posts located in the Americas (including Hawaii) is April 8, 2022.
What are the dates of the presidential elections?
The 2022 presidential election is the 12and of the Fifth Republic and the 11th by direct universal suffrage. The ballot is called a two-round first-past-the-post system. The first round, which will take place on Sunday April 10, 2022, aims to clear two candidates who compete in a duel in the second round, unless a candidate wins an absolute majority of the votes cast in the first round (more 50% of the vote). The second round takes place 14 days later, on Sunday April 24.
To take into account the time difference, voters in Guadeloupe, Martinique, Guyana, Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon, Saint-Barthélemy, Saint-Martin and French Polynesia vote on Saturday April 9 for the first round and Saturday April 23 for the second round. This electoral calendar had been definitively presented by Gérard Darmanin, the Minister of the Interior, during the Council of Ministers on Tuesday July 13, 2021. On April 27, 2022, three days after the second round of the election, the Constitutional Council must validate the results of the election and officially proclaim the name of the new president or the new president of the French Republic.
What are the dates of the presidential debates?
This year, the debates are taking place in a rather special context since one of the candidates, outgoing President Emmanuel Macron, did not wish to participate in the debates before the first round. This means that, if each of the 12 men and women who are candidates for the presidential election can present their programs to the French for several months in the media, they cannot on the other hand debate all together before the first round. This choice of Emmanuel Macron is not, however, unheard of for a president since none of his predecessors under the Fifth Republic, i.e. the presidents in office who ran for a second term, took part in a debate before the first. tower. The only exception was in 2017, when François Hollande, the outgoing president, did not represent himself: TF1 had hosted the first televised debate of the presidential election on its set before the first round of the ballot. It took place on March 21, 2017 and welcomed the five leading candidates in the polls for a debate of nearly 3 hours. But this year, following Emmanuel Macron’s choice not to participate in the debate proposed by BFMTV, candidate Marine Le Pen also canceled her visit: the non-stop news channel thus preferred to cancel the special presidential evening (which was to take place on March 23). However, an important debate took place: that of TF1 on Monday March 14, 2022: it was a major political evening bringing together the eight main candidates for the presidential election. Emmanuel Macron participated, but without debating.
What is the date of the inter-round debate?
Before the second round of the presidential election, the televised debate between the two rounds takes place. Appeared in 1974 during the confrontation between Valéry Giscard d’Estaing and François Mitterrand, it has become a tradition. This year, it should be held on Wednesday, April 20, 2022, according to several reliable sources. In 2017, took place on May 3, 2017 and opposed Emmanuel Macron and Marine Le Pen. The audience had been 16.5 million viewers, the lowest audience since the introduction of this type of debate.
What is the President’s inauguration date?
The investiture of the new President of the French Republic is fixed ten days after the second round of the presidential election in France, at the latest on the last day of the mandate of the outgoing President, unless there is a vacancy in the following a resignation or death. This investiture designates the transfer of power between the outgoing president and the elected president, but also that of all the traditional and formal, civil and military devices. It takes place during an official ceremony marking the start of a new term of the president who will be elected at the end of the second round, set this year for April 24, 2022. If there is no precise rule on the course of this investiture, the person who won the April 24 election will however have to agree on a date with his predecessor. The five-year term of the current president, Emmanuel Macron, will end on May 13, 2022: this date is therefore the deadline for the newly elected candidate to take office.
Date of submission of campaign accounts
The filing of campaign accounts is the last deadline for this election. It is set this year for June 24, 2022. It is under the authority of the Constitutional Council that the candidates will be obliged to submit to this rule, as in the last elections. The goal is for the 9 members of this Council to validate these accounts, to allow candidates to be reimbursed according to their score. This reimbursement is in fact conditional and not everyone will be able to benefit from it in the same way: if it amounts to 47.5% of the expenditure ceiling for those who obtained more than 5% of the votes cast in the first round, for those who would have obtained a lower score, the amount reimbursed drops to 4.75%.
What are the dates of the legislative elections?
This year 2022, the legislative elections will take place on Sundays June 12 and 19. The dates of the votes are adapted to French people living abroad and from French Polynesia: the first round will take place for them a week in advance compared to mainland France, to take into account the geographical distance. As for the overseas departments and collectivities, they will vote on the Saturday preceding the election in mainland France. The purpose of the French voters’ vote is to designate 577 deputies for 5 years of mandate, among which 11 deputies who represent the French living outside France. The 577 constituencies within the framework of which the election of each deputy takes place are delimited by the electoral code within each department, according to the size of the population. Legislative elections are systematically organized the same year and the month following the presidential election since the introduction of the five-year term and the inversion of the electoral calendar decided in 2001. As a reminder, the deputies are elected by universal direct ballot uninominal majority to two rounds per constituency.
Calendar of the return to parliament
According to the provisional calendar of the Assembly, its work was interrupted on Sunday February 27, 2022. Thus, since February 28 and until the election of the deputies of the XVth legislature, there are no meetings, no committee , or public meeting. It should be noted, however, that the 15th legislature will only be closed at the same time as the mandates of the deputies elected for five years, i.e. in June 2022; this is called the “Republican vacancy” period. It allows MPs who wish to stand for re-election to campaign in their constituencies without this overlapping with their current mandates: this is important for the election period to take place under good conditions.