Political elections: conduct of the elections

Verified 10 July 2024 - Directorate for Legal and Administrative Information (Prime Minister)

To vote on election day (or referendum day), you must go to the polling station. The polling station opens at 8am. Generally, it closes at 6pm, but this schedule can be postponed until 8pm in some cases.

At the ballot box

To find out the address of your polling station, you can use this online service:

Verify your voter registration and polling station

Warning  

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General case

It is possible to vote from 8:00 am to 6:00 pm.

But an order from the prefect can advance or delay these schedules. Thus, in the big cities, it is often possible to vote until 8 pm.

To find out the times of your polling station, contact your local office:

Who shall I contact

Presidential elections

It is possible to vote from 8:00 am to 7:00 pm.

A prefect's order may advance the start time or delay the end time, but may not exceed 8 p.m.

To find out the times of your polling station, contact your local office:

Who shall I contact

The polling station is not a place open to all.

The only people who can enter are the following:

  • Persons who hold the polling station
  • Voters who vote at this office
  • Persons responsible for monitoring voting operations

In addition, voters are subject to certain restrictions. They are not allowed to enter the polling station with a gun. Any discussion or deliberation of voters within the office is also prohibited.

The president of the polling station may have an elector expelled if he or she disturbs or slows down the electoral process.

Reminder

To vote, you must go to the polling station indicated on your electoral map.

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Town of 1,000 or more people

To vote, you must present:

Warning  

If you have been registered on decision of the judge (after a refusal of registration or wrongful deletion), you must provide proof of this decision.

Town of less than 1,000 people

To vote, it is not mandatory to present a identity document.

However, in case of doubt about your identity, the president of the polling station can ask you to prove your identity by any means.

Warning  

If you have been registered on decision of the judge (after a refusal of registration or wrongful deletion), you must provide proof of this decision.

The staff checks that you are registered at the polling station.

You have to take an envelope.

Then you must:

  • Take at least 2 ballots (to preserve the confidentiality of the choice)
  • Either use one of the newsletters sent to you at home

You have to go to the polling booth and then go to the ballot box.

The members of the office verify your identity and make sure you only have one envelope. Then the urn is opened to allow you to introduce the envelope. At this stage, you are the only one who is entitled to touch the envelope.

You must then sign the sign-in list. If you are unable to do so, a voter of your choice can sign by registering The voter cannot sign himself.

The date of the vote is recorded on your electoral map. Your card is then returned to you.

FYI  

If you have been wrongly removed or forgotten from the list of electors, you can apply to the court until the office closes.

Who shall I contact

Counting shall begin as soon as the voting operations have been closed. It is held publicly by scrutineers requested during the day.

It is divided into several stages:

  • The members of the board count the parties.
    The ballot box is open. The number of envelopes and the number of ballots without envelopes are checked and compared to the number of signings.
  • The envelopes containing the ballots are grouped in packs of 100. Each package is inserted into a large envelope. The large envelopes are sealed and signed by the President and at least 2 assessors.
  • The large envelopes are distributed between the counting tables and opened by the scrutineers.
  • The 1er deputy returning officer opens each voting envelope. He unfolds the ballot and changes it to a 2d scrutineer who reads it aloud and intelligible. The last 2 scrutineers record the number of votes on result sheets.
  • The tellers sign the result sheets. They hand them over to the office with ballots and envelopes that have been found to be of questionable validity. The bureau then decides whether a bulletin or envelope is valid.

Drafting of minutes

Immediately after the count, the secretary of the bureau shall draw up a report, in the presence of the voters.

The minutes shall indicate in particular the number of votes cast, the number of votes cast, the number of votes cast, the number of votes cast and the number of votes cast by each candidate or list.

It traces the progress of the operations, and relates any complaints voters or delegates may have.

Proclamation of results

After the minutes have been drawn up, the President of the Bureau shall announce the result in public.

The result is also displayed in the voting room.

The result shall include the following information:

  • Number of registered voters
  • Number of voters
  • Votes cast
  • Votes (number of votes) received by each candidate or list

FYI  

One blank or void vote is counted in the number of voters, but not in the votes cast.

Voting machine

To find out the address of your polling station, you can use this online service:

Verify your voter registration and polling station

Warning  

Répondez aux questions successives et les réponses s’afficheront automatiquement

General case

It is possible to vote from 8:00 am to 6:00 pm.

But an order from the prefect can advance or delay these schedules. Thus, in the big cities, it is often possible to vote until 8 pm.

To find out the times of your polling station, contact your local office:

Who shall I contact

Presidential elections

It is possible to vote from 8:00 am to 7:00 pm.

A prefect's order may advance the start time or delay the end time, but may not exceed 8 p.m.

To find out the times of your polling station, contact your local office:

Who shall I contact

The polling station is not a place open to all.

The only people who can enter are the following:

  • Persons who hold the polling station
  • Voters who vote at this office
  • Persons responsible for monitoring voting operations

In addition, voters are subject to certain restrictions. They are not allowed to enter the polling station with a gun. Any discussion or deliberation of voters within the office is also prohibited.

The president of the polling station may have an elector expelled if he or she disturbs or slows down the electoral process.

Reminder

To vote, you must go to the polling station indicated on your electoral map.

Répondez aux questions successives et les réponses s’afficheront automatiquement

Town of 1,000 or more people

To vote, you must present:

Warning  

If you have been registered on decision of the judge (after a refusal of registration or wrongful deletion), you must provide proof of this decision.

Town of less than 1,000 people

To vote, it is not mandatory to present a identity document.

However, in case of doubt about your identity, the president of the polling station can ask you to prove your identity by any means.

Warning  

If you have been registered on decision of the judge (after a refusal of registration or wrongful deletion), you must provide proof of this decision.

The staff checks that you are registered at the polling station.

The members of the office verify your identity.

You must then go to the polling booth and vote by selecting the number that corresponds to your choice (list, candidate, blank vote).

You then sign the sign-in list. If you are unable to do so, a voter of your choice can sign by registering The voter cannot sign himself.

Finally, the date of the vote is displayed on your card returned to you.

FYI  

If you have been wrongly removed or forgotten from the list of electors, you can apply to the court until the office closes.

Who shall I contact

Counting does not take place. The result of the votes is known instantly.

Minutes

The minutes shall be drawn up immediately by the secretary of the bureau.

In particular, it shall contain the following information:

  • Number of votes cast (all votes minus blank votes)
  • Number of blank votes (no candidate name, list of candidates...)
  • Number of votes cast by each candidate or list

It records the voting process and any complaints by voters or delegates.

Proclamation of results

Once the minutes have been drawn up, the result is announced in public by the president of the bureau and displayed in the voting room.

It shall contain the following information:

  • Number of registered voters
  • Number of voters (total votes)
  • Votes cast (all votes minus blank votes)
  • Votes cast (number of votes) for each candidate or list

FYI  

A blank vote (no candidate name or list of candidates...) is counted in the number of voters, but not in the votes cast.

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