Elections: voting rights of European citizens in France

Verified 25 June 2024 - Directorate of Legal and Administrative Information (Prime Minister), Ministry of the Interior

If you are a national of an EU country (other than France) and you live in France, you can vote there in municipal elections, and in European elections to elect French representatives to the European Parliament. To do so, you must apply to be registered on the French electoral rolls.

Please note

In New Caledonia, you must respect other rules.

If you are a national of European Union Member State (other than France) and that you live in France, you can vote there during the European elections and municipal electionsunder certain conditions.

FYI  

For the European elections, you do not have the right to vote in 2 European Union countries at a time.

If you are registered in France, you vote for the French representatives in the European Parliament.

You cannot vote in European elections held in another EU country.

You can give power of attorney to any elector registered in France to vote for you in European or municipal elections.

But another registered voter in France can give you power of attorney to to vote in his place only in European or municipal elections.

To be eligible to vote in France, you must meet all of the following criteria:

  • To be a national of a European Union countries (other than France)
  • Living in France
  • Be at least 18 years old the day before 1er round of elections
  • Enjoy your civil and political rights in France and in your country of origin

To vote, you must be registered to vote in France. It's up to you to ask for it.

Where to register?

You can ask be registered on the electoral lists of only one of the following municipalities :

  • Municipality of your home
  • Municipality where you have lived for at least 6 months
  • Municipality where you are subject to local taxes (housing tax, property tax on built or unbuilt properties, property tax of companies...) for at least 2 years
  • Municipality in which the business is settled and has been subject to local taxes for at least 2 years and whose manager (manager) or shareholder (majority or sole) has been with you for at least 2 years

How to apply for registration?

The application for registration what to do depends on the election you want to vote on:

Répondez aux questions successives et les réponses s’afficheront automatiquement

Municipal and European elections

You can apply to register:

Online

You must apply to be registered on the supplementary lists of electors of municipal and European elections of the same municipality using this online service:

Application to register online on the electoral lists

You must have a scanned version of the following:

Reminder

you must apply to be registered to vote of the same municipality.

On the spot
By yourself

You must go to the town hall with the following documents:

For the contact details of the city hall:

Who shall I contact

Reminder

you must apply to be registered to vote of the same municipality.

Through another person

You can have someone go to the town hall for you.

You must provide the following documents:

For the contact details of the city hall:

Who shall I contact

Reminder

you must apply to be registered to vote of the same municipality.

By mail

You must send the following documents to the City Hall:

For the contact details of the city hall:

Who shall I contact

Reminder

you must apply to be registered to vote of the same municipality.

European elections

You can apply to register:

Online

You must apply to be registered on the supplementary list of electors European elections using this online service:

Application to register online on the electoral lists

You must have scanned versions of the following:

On the spot
By yourself

You must return to the City Hall with the following documents:

For the contact details of the city hall:

Who shall I contact
Through another person

You can have someone go to the town hall for you.

You must provide the following documents:

For the contact details of the city hall:

Who shall I contact
By mail

You must send the following documents to the City Hall:

For the contact details of the city hall:

Who shall I contact

Municipal elections

You can apply to register:

Online

You must apply to be registered on the supplementary list of electors municipal elections using this online service:

Application to register online on the electoral lists

You must have scanned versions of the following:

On the spot
By yourself

You must go to the town hall with the following documents:

For the contact details of the city hall:

Who shall I contact
Through another person

You can have someone go to the town hall for you.

You must provide the following documents:

For the contact details of the city hall:

Who shall I contact
By mail

You must send the following documents to the City Hall:

For the contact details of the city hall:

Who shall I contact

When to apply?

You can apply for registration throughout the year.

But to be able to vote in an election year, you have to do that no later than 6e Friday before 1er tower (or, via internet, no later than 6e Wednesday before 1er tower).

FYI  

If you have just moved in, this period can be extended to 10e day before 1er ballot, under certain conditions.

It all depends on where you move: either in the same commune of France, or in another commune of France, or in another country of the European Union.

Case 1: In the same commune of France

You must inform the city hall of your new address. You can do this:

Répondez aux questions successives et les réponses s’afficheront automatiquement

Online

You must provide the digitized version of a supporting document from your new home and use this online service:

Application to register online on the electoral lists

On-site (by yourself or another person)

By yourself

You must provide the following:

Who shall I contact
Through another person

You can have someone do this for you.

To do this, you must provide the following documents:

Who shall I contact

By mail

You must submit the following documents:

Who shall I contact

Case 2: In another commune in France

You must apply to be registered in your new municipality.

The application for registration depends on the election you want to vote on:

Répondez aux questions successives et les réponses s’afficheront automatiquement

Municipal and European elections

You can apply to register:

Online

You must apply to be registered on the supplementary lists of electors of municipal and European elections of the same municipality using this online service:

Application to register online on the electoral lists

You must have a scanned version of the following:

Reminder

you must apply to be registered to vote of the same municipality.

On the spot
By yourself

You must go to the town hall with the following documents:

For the contact details of the city hall:

Who shall I contact

Reminder

you must apply to be registered to vote of the same municipality.

Through another person

You can have someone go to the town hall for you.

You must provide the following documents:

For the contact details of the city hall:

Who shall I contact

Reminder

you must apply to be registered to vote of the same municipality.

By mail

You must send the following documents to the City Hall:

For the contact details of the city hall:

Who shall I contact

Reminder

you must apply to be registered to vote of the same municipality.

European elections

You can apply to register:

Online

You must apply to be registered on the supplementary list of electors European elections using this online service:

Application to register online on the electoral lists

You must have scanned versions of the following:

On the spot
By yourself

You must return to the City Hall with the following documents:

For the contact details of the city hall:

Who shall I contact
Through another person

You can have someone go to the town hall for you.

You must provide the following documents:

For the contact details of the city hall:

Who shall I contact
By mail

You must send the following documents to the City Hall:

For the contact details of the city hall:

Who shall I contact

Municipal elections

You can apply to register:

Online

You must apply to be registered on the supplementary list of electors municipal elections using this online service:

Application to register online on the electoral lists

You must have scanned versions of the following:

On the spot
By yourself

You must go to the town hall with the following documents:

For the contact details of the city hall:

Who shall I contact
Through another person

You can have someone go to the town hall for you.

You must provide the following documents:

For the contact details of the city hall:

Who shall I contact
By mail

You must send the following documents to the City Hall:

For the contact details of the city hall:

Who shall I contact

The deadline to register depends on the election in question:

You can apply for registration throughout the year.

But to be able to vote in an election year, you have to do that no later than 6e Friday before 1er tower (or, via internet, no later than 6e Wednesday before 1er tower).

FYI  

If you have just moved in, this period can be extended to 10e day before 1er ballot, under certain conditions.

Case 3: In another EU country

If you are registered on the supplementary lists of electors in France to vote in the European elections, you must apply to be removed from those lists.

FYI  

You can check your electoral registration in France using a online service.

It is essential to ask the City Hall for your dismissal in order to be able to vote in the European elections in another European Union (EU) countries.

You can make your request for cancelation throughout the year, but if you want to be canceled in the run-up to the next European elections, you have to make your request by 6e Friday before 1er round of the election.

Who shall I contact

You can check your voter registration and know your polling station using this online service:

Verify your voter registration and polling station

Following your registration on the electoral rolls in France, you receive an electoral map of a special model.

Whether you are registered to vote in a single election in France, or in the European elections and municipal elections, you receive only one card.

This card is only valid for voting in municipal and/or European elections.

The vote shall take place within same conditions as for a French voter.

If you are registered on the supplementary lists of electors in France to vote in the European elections, you must apply to be removed from those lists.

FYI  

You can check your electoral registration in France using a online service.

It is essential to ask the City Hall for your dismissal in order to be able to vote in the European elections in another European Union (EU) countries.

You can make your request for cancelation throughout the year, but if you want to be canceled in the run-up to the next European elections, you have to make your request by 6e Friday before 1er round of the election.

Who shall I contact

Who can help me?

Find who can answer your questions in your region