The unusual date and the surprise of a vote held in three weeks have, it seems, not discouraged the French. As at noon, participation in the first round of the legislative elections is up compared to 2022, reaching 59.39% at 5 p.m., a record since 1986 (63.6%). Two years ago, at the same time, only 39.42% of registered voters had gone to the polls.
This is the highest rate since the first round of the legislative elections of 1978, with the exception of the 1986 election, but which took place under one-round proportional representation.
This Sunday at midday, participation in the first round of the legislative elections amounted to 25.90 %, according to figures from the Ministry of the Interior. It was already much more than at the same time in 2022 and this was already a record since the 1981 election, when 27.60% of voters voted at midday.
In the previous election, in 2022, in the first round only 18.43% of registered voters turned out to vote at midday. They were 39.42% at 5 p.m. At the end of the day, 47.51% of registered voters had gone to the polls, or less than one in two French people.
Abstention on the rise between 2002 and 2022
A higher turnout than usual was expected for this first round of the legislative elections, despite their unusual date. According to an Ipsos poll for Le Parisien and Radio France released last week, 62% of French people said they planned to go to the polls.
Voters on the left, as well as on the right or the far right, see the possibility of an alternation without having to wait for the 2027 presidential election, explained Brice Teinturier, deputy CEO of Ipsos, in our columns. Which may explain the craze. Voters who want to prove the polls wrong, placing the RN in the lead, may also have mobilized.
Before this Sunday, abstention in the first round of legislative elections had only increased over the past 20 years. From 35.6% in 2002, it rose to 52.49% in 2022.
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