When you become a naturalized French citizen, there are some opportunities open to you that were not available before, even as a long-term resident. There’s access to civil service jobs, freedom to move to and work in any other member country of the European Union, and no need to renew a residency card. You also get to vote in city, departmental, regional, and national elections plus for the European parliament. It was a year ago when I earned the status of being français and later today I’ll be exercising that very important right of voting for the first time—except technically it will be for the second time.

Elections in France generally take place in two rounds held on consecutive Sundays (or two weeks apart for the Presidency). If a candidate wins more than 50% of the votes in that first round, she or he is declared the winner. If not, in municipal contests like today, anyone who gets at least 10% the first go-around gets to try again a week later. 

Bill and I have both been voting in US elections (and continue to do so) since we were 18. In addition to the two weeks of voting, some additional differences that we’ve seen here are:

• Sunday voting—scheduled to maximize turnout, to have schools available as polling places, and to reinforce the concept of secularism.
• No mail-in ballots—no early voting either and unless I have a form from the police that will allow someone else to vote in my place, I must be at the polls in-person.
• Media blackout—on the Saturday before an election Sunday there are no surveys, no political ads, and no interviews. It’s supposed to be a day of reflection without the stress of interference.
• Voting process—Upon entering your polling location you show your ID, pick up an envelope and at least two of the different candidate paper ballots. Alone inside a curtained booth you put your chosen ballot into the envelope, throw away the remaining ballots, and take your closed but unsealed envelope to the transparent ballot box. An official will call out your name, watch you deposit your ballot into the slot on top of the box, announce “Voted!” and have you sign the register of citizens who voted that day.
• No write-ins—If you write anything on the ballot or if you put more than one ballot in the envelope, your vote is not valid. You can, however, turn in an empty envelope as a form of protest to say that you didn’t like any of the candidates.
• No “I voted” stickers—Your neighbors will probably see you walking to the polls on a Sunday but otherwise, unless you show them the official stamp inside your electoral card, no one will know.
• No party affliliations—There are hundreds of registered political parties in France with perhaps a dozen holding significant power but even those aren’t really apparent in our local elections. The emphasis, as you can see in the group names below, is on our specific city. It’s all about “You, Unity, and Carcassonne”.

Local Banner	National Parties/Support	Political Leaning
Unité Populaire	LFI (France Unbowed), POI (Marxist)	Far Left
Carcassonne Unie	PS (Socialist), PCF, LÉ (Greens), PP (Social Democrat)	Left
Carcassonne C’est Vous	Horizons, MoDem	Center or Center-right
Carcassonne pour Tous	DVD (Independent Right), LR (Republican)	Right
Demain Carcassonne	RN (Nationalist)	Far Right

The results for today’s vote will be announced later this evening. Our neighbor says that the French think of last week’s vote as one of the heart while today’s is more from the head. I’ve also seen it expressed as “In the first round you choose; in the second round you eliminate.” In either case, I’m just proud and grateful to participate.

Illustration note: All images come from the website of the Ministry of the Interior, merci!