Presidential elections in France

The president of France (ex officio also a co-prince of Andorra) is elected every five years.

Until 2002, the elections were held every seven years.[1] They are always held on a Sunday.[2] Since 1965 the president has been elected by direct popular vote.[3][4][5] Candidates appear on the ballot after the Constitutional Council has validated their candidacy. Should no candidate receive over 50% of the vote in the first round, a second round is organised two weeks later with the top two contenders.

Candidates in presidential elections in France have the right to visit French military bases on national soil and abroad to gain a better understanding of the French Armed Forces, although they are prohibited from using such visits for campaign events.[6] Depending on their respective results in the election, they are eligible to different modalities of reimbursement of their campaign expenses by the state.[7] The state also monitors appearances on television and radio programmes through its Regulatory Authority for Audiovisual and Digital Communication (ARCOM) to ensure equal airtime between candidates during the campaign; each candidate has the right to a certain amount of time not to be exceeded per media platform.[8]