Qualified candidates, voting level… Here is everything you need to know about how the second round of the legislative elections works.
With the dissolution of the National Assembly by Emmanuel Macron, the French are called to the polls for early legislative elections which promise to redefine the political and economic line of the government. The deputies elected in 2022 therefore had to leave their functions – a mandate normally lasts five years, unless the legislature is interrupted by a dissolution. On June 30 and July 7, three weeks later, the French must go to their polling station to elect the 577 deputies in the hemicycle, in a two-round vote.
Deputies are elected by direct universal suffrage. It is possible for a candidate to be elected in the first round: this requires obtaining an absolute majority of votes cast and a number of votes equal to a quarter of the number of registered voters. But if no candidate meets these two conditions, the ballot continues with a second round, Sunday July 7 for these early elections.
In the second round of the legislative elections, only certain candidates can stand: the two candidates who came first in each constituency; or candidates who managed to obtain a number of votes at least equal to 12.5% of the number of registered voters. It is therefore possible to have triangular elections in certain constituencies, with 3 candidates, or even quadrangular elections with 4 candidates.
In the second round of the legislative elections, the candidate with the greatest number of votes is elected, even by a relative majority. In the event of a perfect equality in the number of votes, it is the oldest candidate who is elected.