PROXY VOTE. Since this year, the procedure necessary to vote by proxy has been simplified. As April 24, the date of the second round of the presidential election, approaches, there is still time to go about making your power of attorney. But until when ? And how to go about it? We take stock.
You will only need a few minutes to complete your proxy for the second round of the presidential election. Multiple reasons may prevent the French from going to the polls on April 24, to decide between Marine Le Pen and Emmanuel Macron, especially since this important moment in the democratic life of the country falls in the middle of school holidays for some. But if it is impossible for you to move physically to slip the ballot of your choice into the ballot box yourself, you can use a power of attorney and entrust your vote to a trusted person.
In theory, you have until the day before the election, April 23, to complete your process. However, due to a processing time and the need to go to the police or gendarmerie station, or to the consulate, to prove your identity and validate your entire procedure, it is advisable not to wait for the last moment.
To carry out your power of attorney process, it is very simple. Just log in to this platformhaving previously noted the voter number of your trustworthy person as well as their date of birth (or all their civil status data and their voting municipality). Thereafter, once your online process has been completed, you will need to go to the police station, the gendarmerie or the consulate to have your identity checked and your power of attorney validated. You will then receive a notification by email indicating that your proxy has been accepted.
To have all the necessary information depending on your personal situation, Service public offers a detailed description here (request for power of attorney in France, from abroad, etc.). Good news, moreover, since 1er January 2022, the proxy procedure has been simplified. The person who votes for another does not necessarily have to live in the same city.
Proxy election: the form at the police, gendarmerie, in court
To establish your power of attorney, you can go to a police station, a gendarmerie brigade, or to the district court of your home or place of work. At the counter of these institutions, you will be provided with a form to be completed by hand. If you live abroad, you will have to go to the consulate or the embassy. In the event that you cannot travel – for health reasons alone, the only justification taken into account -, you will have to ask the authorities to come to you to establish the power of attorney at your home, justifying your written request with a medical certificate or proof of infirmity.
Another solution if you want to save some time: you can now download the same form from the Internet (named Cerfa 14952*s01), complete it electronically and then print it. You can get it by clicking directly here from our site. The document is to be printed on two sheets. You must complete the sections “Vote by proxy”, “Sworn statement” and “Receipt to be given to the principal”. The State has implemented this procedure for a few years and hopes to facilitate the use of power of attorney. This does not exempt you from filing it at the police station/gendarmerie/district court – this step is essential – but you will spend less time in the corridors or at the reception of these administrations.
In both cases, the information to be completed is the same. First, you must provide your identity, address, date of birth, telephone, email. You then fill in several fields concerning this “proxy: his surname/first name(s)/address/date of birth. Finally, you must choose the period of validity of the power of attorney (a specific election or an end period). The administration asks you to complete a sworn statement, attesting to the reason why you cannot meet your electoral obligations (health reasons, disability, professional or training obligations, holidays, residence in a municipality other than the one where you are registered on the electoral list, etc.) Once you have completed the complete form, you will obtain a receipt which confirms the fact that you, the principal, have given power of attorney to your agent for the chosen election.
When you complete the proxy form, you have two options: either you choose a type of election (presidential election of 24/04/2022, for example), or you choose a period of validity (proxy valid “until DD /MM/YYYY”). In the case of a specific election, you must specify whether you are giving proxy for the 1st ballot only, for the 2nd ballot only, or for both ballots. If you choose an end date, be aware that a power of attorney can only be established for a maximum period of one year on national territory and three years in embassies or consulates for French voters who live in the stranger. It is therefore up to you to choose which type of power of attorney best corresponds to your absence (holidays, expatriation, occasional impossibility related to your work, etc.).
In theory, you can apply for a proxy until the day before the second round, i.e. until April 23, 2022 for the next presidential election. But the request must have time to be sent, the polling station must be notified in time. To carry out this process, count a delay of routing and processing of the power of attorney at the town hall. Take your steps as soon as possible to prevent your proxy from being prevented from voting in your place on D-Day. In general, it becomes difficult to be sure of being able to vote by proxy if the steps have not been taken. not been carried out at least 3 days before the electoral deadline.
The person who will vote for you can be your husband, your wife, your brother, your mother, a friend, a neighbora political activist whose sympathies you share… The law imposes no criteria as to the nature of your relationship. Before the vote, communicate to him the name of the candidate or the list to which you wish to give your vote. She is free to respect your choice… or not! So obviously choose a trusted person because it is he who will put the ballot in the envelope and who will therefore play on the results of the presidential election of 2022. Note that, since July 1, 2022, it is now possible to give his power of attorney to a voter registered on the electoral lists of a municipality other than his own.
The answer is simple: no documents. The person who votes for you does not have to provide any specific proof. This person to whom the proxy has been entrusted will not receive any official documents before the vote. All he has to do is show up at YOUR polling station with an identity document, give your name before depositing the ballot in the ballot box, the president of the office will verify the existence of the power of attorney and validate his vote as not any other. Your proxy will therefore vote twice: once in his name in his polling station, once in your name in your office. To facilitate the task, do not hesitate to communicate to him in advance the opening hours of the polling station.