The French are called to vote in the first round of the legislative elections this Sunday, June 30. After the European election results, will abstention decrease?
Will the French turn out for the legislative elections? Polling stations have been open since 8 a.m. this Sunday, June 30, for the first round of voting that will allow voters to choose the deputies who will represent them in the National Assembly, following the dissolution ordered by Emmanuel Macron on June 9. While many proxies have been registered for this early election, the first trend at noon has fallen: 25.90% of voters have slipped a ballot into the ballot box by midday, reports the Ministry of the Interior. The abstention rate is therefore set at 74.10% at noon.
Compared to the last election on June 9, the figure is down. : The abstention rate at noon was 80.19% for the 2024 European elections. However, this first trend must be compared with previous legislative elections. In 2022, participation at noon had approached 18.4%, a figure which was down 0.8 points compared to the 2017 election (19.2% at noon). Ultimately, abstention in the first round of the legislative elections was 52.12% at 8 p.m., compared to 51.7% in 2017 and 42.8% in 2012. These legislative elections therefore seem to mark a turning point in the participation and mobilization of the French for this election, in line with a quick but very lively campaign. However, we will have to wait until 5 p.m. and then 8 p.m. and the release of new participation figures to confirm this trend and gauge voters’ interest in these 2024 elections, one week before the second round scheduled for Sunday, July 7, 2024.
Voters still have until 6 p.m. or 8 p.m. to vote, depending on when polling stations close. The French are generally more likely to go to the polls in the second part of the day. A new update on the abstention rate must be made at 5 p.m. with the updated figures, then at 8 p.m. once the vote is over.