LEGISLATIVE ELECTIONS RULES. The first round of the legislative elections takes place this Sunday June 12 before a second round the following weekend, Sunday June 19, 2022. But how do you qualify for the second round? Here is all you need to know.
Look for a legislative result near you
[Mis à jour le 12 juin à 20h29] Is it possible to be elected in the first round of the legislative elections? Yes, but the rules are draconian and make such an outcome rather rare. To be elected in the first round of voting this Sunday, June 12, 2022, a candidate must receive an absolute majority of the votes cast but also and above all a number of votes equal to a quarter of the registered voters. In case of strong abstention, the deal becomes almost impossible. The rule obviously changes in the second round where only obtaining a relative majority is enough. Simply put, the candidate with the most votes is elected.
6,293 candidates present in 577 constituencies (for as many deputies making up the new National Assembly) were thus on the starting line this Sunday, June 12 for the first round of the 2022 legislative elections. Among them, only a handful will manage to qualify for the second. round scheduled for Sunday June 19, especially since the rules for qualifying are particularly drastic in the context of the legislative elections. These legislative elections will be used to form the new National Assembly, made up of 577 deputies representing as many French constituencies, in mainland France as in Overseas or to represent French people living abroad.
Elected for 5 years, except in the event of dissolution!
Each deputy is elected for a term of five years, the next legislative elections being therefore scheduled for 2027. They could be brought forward in one case, if the President of the Republic Emmanuel Macron were to decide during his term of office to announce the dissolution of the National Assembly, a prerogative reserved for the President of the Republic in the Constitution of the 5th Republic. The last dissolution dates back to 1997 and was carried out by Jacques Chirac, who had lost his majority there and had been forced to cohabit with the left, the leader of the PS Lionel Jospin being appointed to Matignon. Before consulting the results of the legislative elections tonight, here are the rules to remember to qualify.
A possible equality between two candidates?
A perfect equality between two candidates is rather rare… But know that the Electoral Code has obviously provided for this eventuality. In the case of a first round, a tie would have no consequences, the candidates joining the second round if they meet the other conditions (collect in votes the equivalent of 12.5% of the registered). However, what happens in the event of a tie in the second round? In this case, the National Assembly will not welcome one more deputy, the number of deputies remaining fixed at 577. Nor is there any question of sharing one’s seat! The electoral code specifies that in the event of a perfect tie in the second round, the older candidate of the two is elected. Bonus for seniors…
No second round? It’s rare !
Before hoping to reach the second round, you must first have been able to present yourself! All applications have been submitted and closed since May 20. To appear in the first round of the legislative elections, it is enough to have French nationality and to be of legal age. Nothing rocket science, but the deal gets seriously complicated for the second round. First note that there may very well not be a second round in your constituency. It is rare but it can happen if one of the candidates obtains the absolute majority of the votes cast (more than 50%) from the 1st round. Apart from this situation, a second round is organized, which opposes at least two candidates. Here is the basic rule: are qualified in the 2nd round all the candidates who, in the 1st round, were able to collect the votes of at least 12.5% of the voters registered on the lists of the constituency.
Due to the specific rules of this ballot in the legislative elections (a candidate must gather 12.5% of voters to qualify for the second round), the chances of seeing triangulars seem reduced. As a reminder, we call triangular a second round comprising three qualified candidates at the end of the first round. In 2017, only one triangular had thus taken place, in the 1st district of Aube, a rarity linked to a very high abstention rate at the national level. As for the quadrangular, which bring together four candidates, none have been observed in legislative elections since… 1973!
Can we qualify for the second round without reaching 12.5% of registered voters? Yes, but…
Thus, in the case of a strong turnout, three or four candidates can sometimes qualify, but any rise in abstention makes the task very complicated. In 2017, during the previous legislative elections, the first round had given birth to a single triangular one, in the 1st district of Aube where the three candidates had obtained these 12.5% of registered voters. It was played out little since the third and last qualified, Bruno Subtil, had collected 8,109 votes where 8,045 votes were needed to qualify in a constituency which brought together 64,357 voters (12.5% of 64,357 = 8,044.625 ).
As a consequence of this rule, when abstention is high, it is more difficult to reach this 12.5%, which is based not on the actual number of voters, but on all registered voters. It therefore sometimes happens that only one candidate crosses this bar, even that no candidate succeeds. In this case, the two leading candidates are automatically qualified for the second round. After the June 12 ballot, candidates who meet these conditions will have until Tuesday, June 14 to re-submit their candidacy to the prefecture. They will then officially participate in the 2nd round, which will take place on Sunday, June 19. As a reminder, legislative elections are a strategic moment in French democratic life, since they determine whether the President of the Republic will have a majority in favor of his policy in Parliament.