Presidential: The Voting Rules You Should Know Before You Vote

The first round of the presidential election is fast approaching. On Sunday 10 April, millions of French men and women will be called upon to elect the future head of state. A handful of days before this big political event, here’s a reminder of the rules to follow on Election Day.

Who can vote?

In order to vote in the presidential elections, it is necessary, as the government’s site reminds us:

• at least be old 18 years old no later than the day before the first vote,
• to be French nationality†
• enjoy being civil and political rights†
• be registered on theelectoral lists†

It is currently no longer possible to register on the electoral rolls. However, if you notice that a administrative error as part of your registration, you can get it at the court until Election Day.

How to vote remotely?

If you cannot come on the day of the first or second round, you can make a power of attorney. You entrust your vote to a person of your choice. Since January 1, 2022, you can designate an authorized representative who is on the electoral lists of another municipality. But the latter will still have to travel to your municipality to hand over your ballot.

In theory, you can create a power of attorney at any time, including on Election Day. In practice be careful, nothing says that you will have time to complete all the formalities and in particular the step of verifying your identity at the police station.

For all information on the subject, please visit the MaProcuration platform.

Which ballot to vote with?

The rules regarding voting are strict. Be careful because if you don’t respect them, your ballot will be considered invalid. Use the ballot papers from your polling station to avoid making mistakes. If you bring your own ballot, it will be considered invalid.

Also torn or annotated ballots are not taken into account and considered invalid. It is therefore not useful to add a small heart next to the name of your favorite candidate.

If you want to vote blank, you can just hand in an empty envelope.

There you go, you now know the most important rules for going to your polling station on 10 and 24 April.

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