Ophélie Artaud / Photo credit: ALBERT LLOP / NURPHOTO / NURPHOTO VIA AFP
3:53 p.m., June 27, 2024
At the end of the first round of the legislative elections, this Sunday, June 30, two or three candidates could qualify for the second round in each of the 577 French constituencies. Unless some manage to qualify in the first round… Europe 1 takes stock of the rules of this ballot.
A single-member majority vote in two rounds, with two or three candidates in the second round, unless some manage to be elected in the first… The functioning of legislative elections is very different from the presidential and European elections. In each of 577 constituencies, several scenarios are possible: either one of the candidates wins in the first round, or two candidates are qualified for the second round. But it is also possible that triangulars, even quadrangulars emerge. Europe 1 takes stock.
What are the criteria for qualifying for the second round?
The rule is simple: to remain in the second round of the legislative elections, a candidate must obtain a number of votes equal to 12.5% of registered voters. In the event that only one candidate obtains this threshold, the first candidate having obtained the most votes after him also qualifies for the second round.
Likewise, if none of the candidates reaches this threshold of 12.5%, it is the two candidates who obtained the greatest number of votes who reach the second round.
In what case can a candidate be elected in the first round?
If one of the candidates manages to obtain more than 50% of the votes cast in the first round, and this also corresponds to more than 25% of the voters registered on the electoral lists in the constituency, then he is elected in the first round. This scenario remains very rare: in 2017, only four deputies were elected in the first round. In 2022, Alexis Corbière, Sophia Chikirou, Sarah Legrain, Danièle Obono (all LFI candidates) and Yannick Favennec (candidate of the presidential majority) had obtained this majority of votes in the first round.
Towards many triangular or quadrangular?
In the event that three or even four candidates manage to exceed the threshold of 12.5% of registered voters, they are all qualified. The second round then takes the form of a triangular (three candidates), or a quadrangular (four candidates). These cases remain quite rare: there was only one triangular in 2017, and eight in 2022.
But a high participation rate, which could reach 64% on Sunday according to polls, favors the number of triangulars. For example, in 1997, when the participation rate in the first round was 68%, 79 triangulars were counted.
