Regional and departmental elections (ex-cantonal)

Verified 08 February 2022 - Directorate of Legal and Administrative Information (Prime Minister), Ministry of the Interior

Regional councilors are elected within the region, departmental councilors are elected within the canton. The next regional and departmental elections are scheduled for March 2028.

Regional elections

French voters on the electoral rolls elect regional councilors in regional elections.

Regional councilors are elected for a term of six years.

The regional councilors are elected by a list system combining majority and proportional voting rules.

On the 1st round

If a list obtains an absolute majority of the votes cast (more than 50%), it obtains one quarter of the seats to be filled.

The other seats shall be distributed on the basis of proportional representation among all the lists which have obtained at least 5% votes cast.

Otherwise, a second round takes place the following week.

On the 2nd lap

The lists having obtained at least 10% of the votes cast on 1er all may be candidates in the second round. They may optionally merge with the lists which have obtained at least 5% of votes on 1er tower.

In the second round, the top-ranked list gets 1/4 of the seats to be filled.

The remaining seats shall be distributed on the basis of proportional representation among the lists which have obtained at least 5% votes cast in the second round.

Certain regional and local authorities with a special status are not concerned by regional elections:

  • Mayotte
  • New Caledonia
  • French Polynesia
  • Saint Barthelemy
  • Saint Martin's Day
  • Saint Pierre and Miquelon
  • Wallis and Futuna

Departmental elections

French voters registered to vote elect councilors in county elections.

Departmental councilors are elected for a term of 6 years.

For each canton, a pair (woman-man) is elected in the 2-round majority ballot.

On the 1st round

To be elected on 1er in turn, the pair must obtain:

  • at least an absolute majority of the votes cast (more than 50%),
  • and a number of votes equal to at least 25% registered voters.

If no binomial is elected as of the 1er round, a second round takes place.

On the 2nd lap

The following pairs may be candidates in the second round:

  • The 2 binomials came first
  • The other binomials, only if they have obtained a number of votes at least equal to 12.5% registered voters.

The elected pair obtained the largest number of votes in the second round.

Since the creation of the Metropolis of Lyon, the Rhone department now concerns only certain municipalities. To find out if your municipality is part of the Metropolis or the department, you can use this module:

Does my municipality depend on the Metropolis of Lyon or the Rhône department?

Certain regional and local authorities with a special status are not concerned by departmental elections:

  • City of Paris
  • Guiana
  • Martinique
  • New Caledonia
  • French Polynesia
  • Saint Barthelemy
  • Saint Martin's Day
  • Saint Pierre and Miquelon
  • Wallis and Futuna

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