LEGISLATIVE

THE CRITICAL VOTING METHOD

The election of the 577 deputies to the National Assembly is by uninominal majority ballot in two rounds. Voting is by constituency, each corresponding to one seat. The seat is won by the candidate who obtains the most votes. The objective is to obtain an absolute majority of seats, ie 289 deputies.

Since 2002, the legislative elections follow the presidential elections. And usually voters give the newly elected president a majority in the National Assembly.

To be elected in the first round, the candidate must have obtained an absolute majority (50% of the votes plus one, representing at least 25% of those registered). Otherwise, a second round is organized and it is then the candidate who has obtained the most votes (the relative majority) who wins. But only candidates who have obtained 12.5% ​​of the votes of the number of registered voters can participate in the second round.

Benefits

This voting method offers the benefit of achieving clear majorities through candidates having obtained an (absolute or relative) majority of votes. Stop overrepresenting them. It generally has the virtue of giving the executive a solid basis for governing. It was moreover to put an end to the political instability of the Fourth Republic that General de Gaulle had reestablished, in 1958, the majority ballot for the election of deputies.

The inconvenients

This ballot eliminates, conversely, the other candidates, whether they have obtained 5% or 40% of the votes. This is why he is criticized for penalizing the smallest parties, established on the territory but benefiting from an insufficient number of voters to win. These rules of the electoral game therefore do not allow all political sensitivities to be heard.

Five years ago, the National Rally, little established and without allies, had obtained only six deputies and two relatives despite its 13.2% of the votes in the first round of the legislative elections. The abstention, which reached records, also weighs very heavily on the ballot.

To qualify for the second round, you must obtain 12.5% ​​of the votes of the number of registered voters. But with a 50% abstention, this amounts to having to win 25% of the votes cast in the first round. And with almost 58% abstention as in 2017? 29%.

The results

The vote and the level of abstention require alliances to be forged from the first round to increase one's chances. This is what the various political parties are currently actively working on.

Aborted reforms

The smaller parties have long been calling for a change in the voting system in the legislative elections. And the debate is reactivated this year, as was already the case in 2017.

Emmanuel Macron then promised to integrate a dose (15%) of proportional representation in the legislative ballot, "to reflect the pluralism of our political life". Text finally buried.

The election concerns the 577 deputies in the National Assembly.