General Information
At stake in this election:
- The office of President of France
Description of government structure:
- Chief of State: President Jacques CHIRAC *
- Head of Government: Prime Minister Dominique DE VILLEPIN
- Assembly: France has a bicameral Parliament (Parlement) consisting of the Senate (Sénat) with 331 seats and the National Assembly (Assemblée Nationale) with 577 seats.
* The President is elected by absolute majority vote to serve a 5-year term renewable once. If no candidate obtains a majority in the first-round election, a second round is held between the two candidates with the highest votes in the first round.
Description of electoral system:
- The President is elected by absolute majority vote to serve a 5-year term.
- In the Senate (Sénat) 331 members are elected by indirect vote to serve 9-year terms*. In the National Assembly (Assemblée Nationale) 577 members are elected by absolute majority vote in single-member constituencies to serve 5-year terms.
* 331 members are elected by indirect vote in an electoral college to serve 9-year terms. One third of the Senate is renewable every three years.
Main Candidates in the Second Round of the Presidential race:
- Nicolas SARKOZY
- Party: Union for a Popular Movement / Union pour un Mouvement Populaire (UMP)
- Ségolène ROYAL
- Party: Socialist Party / Parti Socialiste (PS)
Main Candidates in the First Round of the Presidential race:
- Nicolas SARKOZY
- Party: Union for a Popular Movement / Union pour un Mouvement Populaire (UMP)
- Ségolène ROYAL
- Party: Socialist Party / Parti Socialiste (PS)
- François BAYROU
- Party: Union for French Democracy / Union pour la démocratie française (UDF)
- Jean-Marie LE PEN
- Party: National Front / Front national (FN)
- Olivier BESANCENOT
- Party: Revolutionary Communist League / Ligue communiste révolutionnaire (LCR)
- Philippe DE VILLIERS
- Party: Movement for France / Mouvement pour la France (MPF)
- Marie-George BUFFET
- Party: French Communist Party / Parti communiste français (PCF)
- Dominique VOYNET
- Party: The Greens / Les Verts
- Arlette LAGUILLER
- Party: Workers' Struggle / Lutte Ouvrière (LO)
- José BOVÉ
- Party: Independent Candidate
- Frédéric NIHOUS
- Party: Hunting, Fishing, Nature, Traditions / Chasse, pêche, nature, traditions (CPNT)
- Gérard SCHIVARDI
- Party: Worker's Party / Parti des travailleurs (PT)
Last Presidential election:
- The last presidential elections were held in two rounds, on April 21 and May 5, 2002. Jacques CHIRAC was reelected president in the second round with 81.96% of the vote, against Jean-Marie LE PEN who obtained 18.04% of the vote.
Population and number of registered voters:
- Population: 64,016,229 (2007)
- Registered Voters: 44,472,834 (April 2007 )
Gender Data:
· Female Population: 32,799,409 (2007)
· Is France a signatory to CEDAW: Yes (17 July 1980)
· Has France ratified CEDAW: Yes (14 December 1980)
· Gender Quota: Yes
· Female candidates in this election: Yes
· Number of Female Parliamentarians: 107 (National Assembly) following 2007 election; 56 (Senate) following 2004 election)
· Human Development Index Position: 22 (2014)
· Social Institutions and Gender Index (SIGI) Categorization: Very Low
Disability Data:
· Is France a signatory to CRPD: Yes (30 March 2007)
· Has France ratified CRPD: Yes (18 February 2010)
· Population with a disability: 9,602,434 (est.)