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VoteRights

France

Europe · fr

Semi-presidential republic; the president is elected by direct popular vote in a two-round system, with paper ballots counted by hand.

Profile last reviewed July 23, 2026

France has had universal male suffrage since 1848 but did not enfranchise women until 1944, later than most of western Europe. The Fifth Republic made the presidency directly elected in 1962 and lowered the voting age to 18 in 1974. France is also one of the few democracies to have abolished postal voting outright: it was withdrawn in 1975 after documented fraud and replaced by voting through a proxy. Ballots remain paper, counted by hand and in public, usually by voters drawn from the polling station itself.

How voting works today

Voting age
18 and over
Voter registration
Mixed
Identification
Photo ID required
Compulsory voting
No
Postal voting
Not available
Early voting
Not available
Online voting
Restricted
Voting from abroad
Available to all

Citizens are enrolled automatically at 18 if they completed the civic census, and must register themselves otherwise. Identification is required to vote in communes above 1,000 inhabitants. There is no postal voting at all: a voter who cannot attend appoints a proxy. Internet voting exists only for citizens abroad, and only in legislative elections.

How the franchise changed

Every entry records a change in who could vote, or how — expansions, restrictions and procedural reforms alike.

  1. 1848Expansion

    Universal male suffrage was established.

  2. 1944Expansion

    An ordinance enfranchised women, who voted for the first time in 1945.

  3. 1962Reform

    A referendum made the president directly elected by the people rather than by an electoral college.

  4. 1974Expansion

    The voting age was lowered from 21 to 18.

  5. 1975Restriction

    Postal voting was abolished after documented fraud. A voter who cannot attend must instead appoint a proxy to vote on their behalf.

  6. 2012Expansion

    Internet voting was introduced for citizens abroad in legislative elections; it was suspended in 2017 over security concerns and later reinstated.

Safeguards on the count

Ballot type
Paper ballots
Post-election audit
Judicial challenge only
Election administration
Mixed / decentralised
Domestic observers
Yes
International observers
Yes

Voters place a paper ballot in an envelope and the count is done by hand, in public, at the polling station — commonly by voters themselves rather than by officials alone. The Constitutional Council rules on the validity of presidential elections and referendums; administration sits with the Interior Ministry and the communes.

Worth knowing

  • France abolished postal voting in 1975 after documented fraud and has never restored it — a voter who cannot attend appoints a proxy instead.
  • Ballots are counted in public by citizens drawn from the polling station, which makes the count observable by anyone who turns up.

Elections in the database

People

Sources

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