Legislative elections: are the dates chosen by Emmanuel Macron legal?

Emmanuel Macron is accused of haste. While the President of the Republic announced this Sunday, June 9, the dissolution of the National Assembly, many observers are surprised by the date chosen by the tenant of the Élysée for the organization of the legislative elections, namely from June 30 for the first round. “Curious the dates”, For example, the former Minister of Justice Jean-Jacques Urvoas was surprised, citing the Electoral Code.

On his social networks, the former socialist minister recalled that article L157 of the text provides that in the case of legislative elections “declarations of candidacy must be submitted, in duplicate, to the prefecture no later than 6 p.m., the fourth Friday preceding polling day.” By doing a quick calculation, “this should make a first round on July 7”as noted by the man who once again became a professor of public law at the University of Western Brittany.

The Constitution regulates early elections

Except that there is the Electoral Code and there is the Constitution. And the founding text of the Fifth Republic proposes a completely different timetable in the event of a dissolution of the National Assembly. Article 12 of the Constitution thus provides that “the general elections take place at least twenty days and at most forty days after the dissolution”. However, the provisions of the Constitution prevail over those of the Electoral Code, “which do not concern the case of elections following the dissolution of the National Assembly”, as Romain Rambaud, a lawyer specializing in electoral law, points out. On a blog specializing in the issue, the professor of public law at the University of Grenoble-Alpes notes that the Constitutional Council has already had the opportunity to express itself on the issue, in June 1981. It then ruled that the provisions of a constitutional nature necessarily prevail, with regard to the deadlines assigned to the conduct of the electoral campaign and the submission of candidacies, over the legislative provisions of the Electoral Code.

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The fact remains that by launching a 20-day campaign – in particular to avoid a second round on July 14 – Emmanuel Macron chose the shortest range provided for by the Constitution. A tight timing, which also concerns the Association of Mayors of France. In a press release published this Monday, June 10, the association expressed “the concern among many mayors” who must face this “unprecedented delay in the history of the Republic”. In fact, for all other dissolutions, future deputies had more than three weeks to campaign. The shortest period was that of the legislative elections of 1981, when the candidates had 23 days to organize following the dissolution pronounced by François Mitterrand.

In summary, as public law doctor Mélody Mock-Gruet pointed out, “20 days is short, but constitutional.” On his social networks, Jean-Jacques Urvoas himself admitted his error, recalling that it is the decree convening voters which will settle the question of the deadline for submitting candidacies. Published this Monday in the Official Journal, it provides that applications for the first round must be submitted between Wednesday June 12 and Sunday June 16 at 6 p.m.

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