Election presidentielle

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In France, in order to be a candidate in a French election, you have to be a French citizen aged 18 years or over and need to collect at least 500 signatures (or parrainages) from elected officials to back your campaign.

The French word “parrainage” means sponsorship or guardianship. The word derives from “parrain” – godfather.

The signatures can be collected from anyone elected to public office from village mayors to MPs, MEPs and Senators.

However, the officials must come from:

·         At least 30 different French “départements” (equivalent of counties in the UK) or overseas French territories

·         With no more than 50 signatures coming from one “département” or overseas territory.

This year, candidates have until March 4th to gain the signatures they need. French social media users have recently spotted many obscure politicians tweeting pictures of either a signed form or a letter being popped into the post-box – they are making a public declaration of their “parrainage”.

The names of all the officials who have given their signatures will be published on March 8th, along with the list of candidates who have gained the required 500 and therefore their place on the ballot paper. 

Until that date, the question of who has the required numbers of parrainages is the subject of much speculation and newspaper headlines!

If no candidate wins over 50% of the vote after the first round, a second round is organised. Only the two candidates (or occasionally those candidates who received above a prescribed proportion of the votes) with the most votes qualify for the second round. The candidate with the absolute majority of votes cast is elected.

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