At stake in this election:

• The office of President of France

Description of government structure:

• Chief of State: President Jacques CHIRAC *
• Head of Government: Prime Minister Dominique DE VILLEPIN
• Assembly: France has a bicameral Parliament (Parlement) consisting of the Senate (Sénat) with 331 seats and the National Assembly (Assemblée Nationale) with 577 seats.

* The President is elected by absolute majority vote to serve a 5-year term renewable once. If no candidate obtains a majority in the first-round election, a second round is held between the two candidates with the highest votes in the first round.

Description of electoral system:

• The President is elected by absolute majority vote to serve a 5-year term.
• In the Senate (Sénat) 331 members are elected by indirect vote to serve 9-year terms*. In the National Assembly (Assemblée Nationale) 577 members are elected by absolute majority vote in single-member constituencies to serve 5-year terms.

* 331 members are elected by indirect vote in an electoral college to serve 9-year terms. One third of the Senate is renewable every three years.

Main Candidates in the Second Round of the Presidential race:

• Nicolas SARKOZY
  • Party: Union for a Popular Movement / Union pour un Mouvement Populaire (UMP)
• Ségolène ROYAL
  • Party: Socialist Party / Parti Socialiste (PS)

Main Candidates in the First Round of the Presidential race:

• Nicolas SARKOZY
  • Party: Union for a Popular Movement / Union pour un Mouvement Populaire (UMP)
• Ségolène ROYAL
  • Party: Socialist Party / Parti Socialiste (PS)
• François BAYROU
  • Party: Union for French Democracy / Union pour la démocratie française (UDF)
• Jean-Marie LE PEN
  • Party: National Front / Front national (FN)
• Olivier BESANCENOT
  • Party: Revolutionary Communist League / Ligue communiste révolutionnaire (LCR)
• Philippe DE VILLIERS
  • Party: Movement for France / Mouvement pour la France (MPF)
• Marie-George BUFFET
  • Party: French Communist Party / Parti communiste français (PCF)
• Dominique VOYNET
  • Party: The Greens / Les Verts
• Arlette LAGUILLER
  • Party: Workers' Struggle / Lutte Ouvrière (LO)
• José BOVÉ
  • Party: Independent Candidate
• Frédéric NIHOUS
  • Party: Hunting, Fishing, Nature, Traditions / Chasse, pêche, nature, traditions (CPNT)
• Gérard SCHIVARDI
  • Party: Worker's Party / Parti des travailleurs (PT)

Last Presidential election:

• The last presidential elections were held in two rounds, on April 21 and May 5, 2002. Jacques CHIRAC was reelected president in the second round with 81.96% of the vote, against Jean-Marie LE PEN who obtained 18.04% of the vote.

Population and number of registered voters:

• Population: 64,016,229 (2007)
• Registered Voters: 44,472,834 (April 2007 )

Gender Data:

·         Female Population: 32,799,409 (2007)

·         Is France a signatory to CEDAW: Yes (17 July 1980)

·         Has France ratified CEDAW: Yes (14 December 1980)

·         Gender Quota: Yes

·         Female candidates in this election: Yes

·         Number of Female Parliamentarians: 107 (National Assembly) following 2007 election; 56 (Senate) following 2004 election) 

·         Human Development Index Position: 22 (2014)

·         Social Institutions and Gender Index (SIGI) Categorization: Very Low

Disability Data:

·         Is France a signatory to CRPD: Yes (30 March 2007)

·         Has France ratified CRPD: Yes (18 February 2010)

·         Population with a disability: 9,602,434 (est.)