Paris (AFP)
The ballot for the senatorial elections has been open since 8:30 a.m. Sunday in mainland France: some 87,000 major voters are called to the polls to renew half of the Senate, or 172 seats out of 348.
This election should be marked by a green breakthrough, which could allow the constitution of an environmental group, but the balance of political forces in the upper house, where the right has been in the majority since 2014, should remain stable.
The Senate is renewed by half every three years.
This year are concerned the elected representatives of 58 metropolitan departments between Ain and Indre and between Bas-Rhin and the Territory of Belfort, outside Ile-de-France.
Overseas, senators from Guyana and 4 communities (Wallis and Futuna, Saint-Barthélemy, Saint-Martin, French Polynesia) are also renewed.
117 outgoing candidates are represented.
In majority-voting departments (where one or two senators are elected), the grand voters vote at the prefecture from 8:30 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. for the first round then, in the event of a second round, from 3:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.
In the most populous departments, with at least three senators, proportional representation applies, with an open ballot from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
No results can be published before the closing of the last polling station in mainland France.
Overseas, Wallis and Futuna got the ball rolling, 10 hours ahead of the metropolis.
Guyana (5 hours late compared to Paris), Saint-Barthélemy and Saint-Martin (6 hours late), and finally Polynesia (12 hours late) will follow in the next few hours.
Voting is compulsory for large voters, under penalty of a fine of 100 euros.
The representatives of the municipalities constitute 95% of the electoral college.
The deputies and senators of the constituency, regional advisers and departmental advisers also vote.
Senators are elected for a six-year term.
© 2020 AFP