Municipal elections are fast approaching. Perhaps it is the first time that you are going to take part in this election in your commune and this one seems vague to you. The dates, the voting system, the conditions of eligibility, the plurality of mandates, as many gray areas surrounding the municipal elections. Europe 1 therefore provides answers to five questions you might ask yourself.
What are the dates of the next municipal elections?
The next municipal elections will take place in March 2020. Voting takes place in two rounds. The first round of municipal elections will take place on Sunday March 15. Then, if a second round is necessary, it will be organized the following Sunday, March 22. As for the dates of the electoral campaign, it will officially start on Monday March 2 and will end on Saturday March 14, the day before the first round of the election. Then from Monday 16 to Saturday 21 March will take place the electoral campaign for the second round.
How are the mayor and the municipal council elected?
In municipal elections, we do not vote directly for the mayor. Voters elect municipal councilors, who then elect the mayor and his deputies. The municipal councilors are therefore elected by direct universal suffrage. The number of municipal councilors is fixed according to the number of inhabitants in the municipality. This number varies from 7 to 69 municipal councilors. Thus, a municipality of less than 100 inhabitants will have seven members in its municipal council, and a municipality of more than 300,000 inhabitants will have 69 municipal councilors.
What is the voting system according to the size of my municipality?
The voting system is different depending on the size of the municipality. We distinguish the municipalities of less and more than 1,000 inhabitants. In municipalities with less than 1,000 inhabitants, the majority of votes are multi-member, with two rounds and a combination. This means that voters vote for the number of municipal councilors who sit in their municipality. Applicants can present themselves alone or in a group. The mix allows voters to cross out or add names to the candidate lists. Then the number of seats to be filled in the municipal council fills in the first and second round. In the first round, if a candidate obtains an absolute majority, then he obtains a seat on the municipal council. If all the seats have not been allocated in the first round, then a second round is organized, in which a relative majority suffices to obtain a seat.
In the municipalities of more than 1,000 inhabitants, the ballot is proportional, of list, with two turns and with majority premium granted to the list arrived at the head. This means that if a list obtains an absolute majority in the first round, then half of the seats on the municipal council are allocated to it. The other half of the seats are distributed proportionally between the lists having obtained more than 5% of the votes. If no list obtains an absolute majority in the first round, then a second round is organized, in which only the lists having obtained at least 10% of the votes in the first round can participate. In the second round, the same rules for distributing seats are observed, but a relative majority suffices to win half of the seats on the municipal council.
What are the conditions to be eligible for municipal elections?
Not everyone can run for municipal elections. To be eligible, the candidate must fulfill certain conditions. He must first be French or a national of a Member State of the European Union. In addition, the candidate must be over 18 years of age on polling day and have fulfilled his military obligations. Finally, he must be an elector in the municipality where he is present, or at least appear on the list of direct contributions from the municipality, that is to say pay local taxes.
However, the candidate cannot run in another electoral district. He must not be deprived of his civil rights, nor be placed under guardianship or curatorship. Finally, a candidate exercising a military, prefect, magistrate or senior civil servant function may be declared ineligible in certain cases.
What is the duration of a mayor's mandate and can he hold multiple mandates?
The mayor of a municipality is elected for a six-year term. This term of office is the same for the municipal council. At the end of his mandate, the mayor can introduce himself again. If the mayor is re-eligible, he may not hold multiple mandates. Since 2014, mayors can no longer cumulate their function with a mandate of parliamentarian, that is to say deputy, senator or even European deputy. On the other hand, the function of mayor is reconcilable with the function of minister. In general, if they are appointed ministers, the mayors still resign from their local mandate.