Electoral abstention occurs in French elections, French referendums and local consultations in France.
"Registration on the electoral roll is mandatory" under Article L9 of the , but no sanctions are provided for. Since 1997, the law provides for the automatic registration on the electoral roll of the municipality of residence of persons who meet the required age conditions.
In France, voting is not mandatory in the legal sense: "voting is a right, it is also a civic duty" is written on the voter invitation card. It is only mandatory in senatorial elections for major electors (deputies and municipal, departmental and regional councillors) who are fined 100 euros in the event of abstention, since a law passed in 2004.
Calculation of the abstention rate
General The abstention rate can be calculated in different ways. In France, the ratio is established by comparing the number of citizens who abstained from voting to the number of those registered on the electoral lists, on the date of the election. People who are not registered on the electoral lists are therefore not counted in the abstention figures. Blank and invalid votes are also not counted.
Estimate of non-registered persons "Registration on the electoral roll is mandatory" under Article L9 of the Electoral Code, but no sanctions are provided for. Since 1997, the law provides for the automatic registration on the electoral roll of the municipality of domicile of persons who meet the required age conditions. This concerns young people in the year following their electoral majority.
According to several INSEE studies, around 4.9 million French people are not registered on the electoral rolls or believe they are not (2004 data), a figure which varies between 10% and 13.3% of the electorate over the last nine years.
In 2007, the was estimated to comprise 44.5 million voters for 62 million inhabitants.
In 2016, the electorate was estimated to consist of 44.834 million voters for 66 million inhabitants.
In 2018, the electoral body was estimated to include 45.448 million voters for 67 million inhabitants.
At 14 April 2019, the electoral body comprised 47.148 million voters for 67 million inhabitants.
Abstention rate
Since 1848 The abstention rate has varied considerably since the introduction of in France. The enthusiasm perceptible at the 1848 French Constituent Assembly election (18.3% abstention) quickly gave way to disenchantment, especially after the June Days uprising and the . From the summer, abstentionism soared during local elections: around 37% in municipal elections, then 62% for general councils, and finally 73% for district councils. The presidential election in December regained some favour, with only 25% abstention. But from 1849, the legislative elections experienced a decline: 32% abstentionism, or 14 points more than a year earlier. The sequel was mixed: the very low abstention rates observed in each plebiscite of 1851, 1852 and 1870 were contrasted by a civic languor in the legislative elections, against which the Second Empire tried to fight. The of the regime would allow a return to civic life; abstentionism fell to barely more than 25% in the municipal elections of 1865, and to 22% in the last legislative elections, those of 1869.
The French Third Republic saw the triumph of civic-mindedness in the main election, the legislative elections, but also, a much more counterintuitive phenomenon, in the municipal elections. With ups and downs for the former, while participation in the latter never weakened (from 74.5% in 1874 to 78% in 1912).According to the expression dedicated to the legislative elections, the combat elections (1876, 1877, 1885, 1889, 1902, 1906) contrasted with the appeasement elections (1881, 1893, 1898, 1910, 1914) among other things by their better participation. On the other hand, participation in the two other types of election practiced at the time (that of the district and departmental councils) fell until the turn of the century, then remained stable. Within the Third Republic, the interwar period was the golden age of participation. As early as 1924, the legislative elections saw abstentions drop to less than 17% of registered voters; the municipal elections followed very closely, at less than 17.5%. Finally, the 1930s saw an exacerbation of political life, to the point of reaching an absolute record for participation in legislative elections in France in 1936 (only 15.8% abstention in metropolitan France in the first round, 15.6% in the second round), while participation in the election of district councils tended to catch up with that of general councils, which itself approached that in the legislative elections (22.5% in 1937, the absolute record for participation in departmental elections in France).
The rest is much more eventful. The repetition of political elections in 1946 is considered by all historians to have tired public opinion. However, the abstentions in the legislative elections of November 1946 did not reach 22%. On the other hand, the disappearance of the district councils did not prevent the departmental elections, now called cantonal, from gradually returning to their cruising speed of the Third Republic, with more than 40% abstention.
The repeated consultations from 1958 to 1962 ended up causing a real civic decline, with a very notable 31.3% abstention rate in the legislative elections of November 1962 - as would be all rates in legislative elections exceeding 30%. But it was the introduction of direct suffrage in the election of the President of the Republic that would end up widening the gaps in participation between the different types of ballot. Not immediately, but after the legislative elections of 1986, the last to be above 70% participation. In the subsequent period, there would sometimes be more than double the abstention rate in cantonal, regional or European elections compared to the main election of the French Fifth Republic, the presidential election.
European elections
DateAbstentionJune 12, 197939.29%June 17, 198443.28%June 10, 198951.2%June 12, 199447.24%June 13, 199953.24%June 13, 200457.24%June 7, 200959.37%May 25, 201457.57%May 26, 201949.88%June 9, 202448.51%
Presidential elections
YearDateAbstention1965December 5 (first round)15.25%December 19 (second round)15.78%1969 June 1 ( first round)22.41%June 15 (second round)31.15%1974May 5 (first round)15.77%May 19 (second round)12.67%1981April 24 (first round)18.91%May 10 (second round)14.65%1988April 24 (first round)18.62%May 8 (second round)15.94%1995April 23 (first round)21.62%May 7 (second round)20.34%2002April 21 (first round)28.4%May 5 (second round)20.29%2007April 22 (first round)16.23%May 6 (second round)16.03%2012April 22 (first round)20.52%May 6 (second round)19.65%2017April 23 (first round)22.23%May 7 (second round)25.44%2022April 10 (first round)26.31%April 24 (second round)28.01%
Legislative elections
YearDateAbstention1958November 23 (first round)22.82%November 30 (second round)23.68%1962November 18 (first round)31.3%November 25 (second round)28.0%1967March 5 (first round)19.11%March 12 (second round)20.27%1968June 23 (first round)19.99%June 30 (second round)22.18%1973March 4 (first round)19.76%March 11 (second round)19.11%1978March 12 (first round)17.22%March 19 (second round)15.34%1981June 14 (first round)29.35%June 21 (second round)25.54%1986March 1621.5%No second round: proportional voting1988June 5 (first round)34.26%June 12 (second round)30.11%1993March 21 (first round)31.05%March 28 (second round)32.62%1997May 25 (first round)32.08%June 1 ( second round)28.92%2002June 9 (first round)35.58%June 16 (second round)39.68%2007June 10 (first round)39.56%June 17 (second round)40.01%2012June 10 (first round)42.78%June 17 (second round)44.60%2017June 11 (first round)51.3%June 18 (second round)57.36%2022June 12 (first round)52.49% June 19 (second round)53.77%2024June 30 (first round)33.29%July 7 (second round)33.37%
Regional elections
YearDateAbstention1986March 16 (single round)21.73%1992March 22 (single round)31.37%1998March 15 (single round)41.97%2004March 21 (first round)39.16%March 28 (second round)34.34%2010March 14 (first round)53.67%March 21 (second round)48.79%2015December 6 (first round)50.09%December 13 (second round)41.59%2021June 20 (first round)66.72%June 27 (second round)65.31%
Departmental elections From 1833 to 2014, this ballot was called “cantonal elections”, then “departmental elections” from 2015 following the .
YearDateAbstention2001March 11 (first round)34.52%March 18 (second round)43.75%2004March 21 (first round)36.09%March 28 (second round)33.52%2008March 9 (first round)35.11%March 16 (second round)44.55%2011March 20 (first round)55.68%March 27 (second round)55.23%2015March 22 (first round)49.83% March 29 (second round)50.02%2021June 20 (first round)66.68%June 27 (second round)65.64%
Municipal elections
YearDateAbstention1959First round25.2%Second round26.1%1965First round21.8%Second round29.2%1971First round24.8%Second round26.4%1977First round21.1%Second round22.4%1983First round21.6%Second round20.3%1989First round27.2%Second round26.9%1995First round30.6%Second round30%2001First round32.6%Second round31%2008First round33.46%Second round34.8%2014First round36.45%Second round37.87%2020First round55.25%Second round58.6%
Referendums
DateSubjectAbstentionSeptember 28, 1958Constitutional referendum: Constitution of October 4, 1958 (Fifth Republic)19.37%January 8, 19611962 Algerian independence referendum: Self-determination of Algeria26.25%April 8, 1962Evian Accords24.67%October 28, 1962Constitutional referendum: election by direct universal suffrage of the President of the French Republic23.03%April 27, 1969Constitutional referendum: creation of regions and reform of the Senate19.87%April 23, 19721972 French European Communities enlargement referendum: Enlargement of the European Communities39.76%November 3, 1988Self-determination of New Caledonia63.11%September 20, 1992Treaty of Maastricht30.3%September 24, 2000Constitutional referendum: presidential five-year term69.81%May 29, 2005Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe30.67%
Local consultations DateSubjectAbstentionJuly 6, 20032003 referendum in Corsica: merger of the two general councils of Haute-Corse and Corse-du-Sud within a single territorial collectivity39.17%December 7, 2003Consultations on changes to territorial status in Overseas France: creation of an overseas collectivity in Saint-Martin55.82%December 7, 2003Consultations on changes to territorial status in Overseas France: creation of an overseas collectivity in Saint-Barthélemy21.29%December 7, 2003Consultations on changes to territorial status in Overseas Territories: creation of a single territorial authority in Guadeloupe49.66%December 7, 2003Consultations on changes to territorial status in Overseas Territories: creation of a single territorial authority in Martinique56.06%January 10, 2010Guyanese referendum (1st referendum): greater autonomy for the region51.84%January 10, 2010Martinique referendum (1st referendum): greater autonomy for the region44.65%January 24, 2010Guyanese referendum (2nd referendum): merger of the single department and the region into a single territorial community72.58%January 24, 2010 (2nd referendum): merger of the single department and the region into a single territorial community64.19%April 7, 2013Referendum on the Territorial Community of Alsace64.04%
Reasons for abstention
General causes In France, abstention would be influenced by a feeling of political non-representation, on four points:
Peaceful transition of power seems quite useless when it does not solve major problems like unemployment The distrust of the French population towards political representatives due to the succession of scandals and financial affairs. The behaviour of political parties would distance politicians from the real problems of society. Voter disengagement.