At stake in this election:

• The office of President of France

Description of government structure:

• Chief of State: President Nicolas SARKOZY
• Head of Government: Prime Minister Francois FILLON
• Assembly: France has a bicameral Parliament (Parlement français) consisting of the Senate (Sénat) with 331 seats and the National Assembly (Assemblée Nationale) with 577 seats.

Description of electoral system:

• The President is elected by absolute majority vote through a two-round system to serve a 5-year term.
• The Prime Minister is appointed by the president.
• In the Senate (Sénat) 331 members are indirectly elected by an electoral college 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.**

* Electoral Colleges are 128 territorial constituencies (number of seats dependent on population) comprising the departments of metropolitan France, overseas departments and territories, territorial collectivities and French citizens residing abroad One third of the Senate is renewable every three years.

** A candidate is elected in the first round if he/she obtains an absolute majority of the total votes cast, provided this amount is equal to a quarter of the number of registered voters in the particular constituency. In order to be eligible for the second round, candidates must have obtained a number of votes equal to at least 12.5% of the total number of registered voters. However, if only one candidate fulfills this condition, the person who polls the second largest number of votes in the first ballot may also participate in the second at which, to be elected, a simple majority suffices

Main Candidates in the Second Round of the Presidential race:

• Nicolas SARKOZY
  • Party: Union for a Popular Movement / Union pour un Mouvement Populaire (UMP)
• François Gérard Georges HOLLANDE
  • 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)
• François Gérard Georges HOLLANDE
  • Party: Socialist Party / Parti Socialiste (PS)
• François BAYROU
  • Party: Demoratic Movement / Mouvement démocrate (MoDem)
• Marine LE PEN
  • Party: National Front / Front National (FN)
• Jean-Luc MELENCHON
  • Party: Left Front / Front de gauche

Population and number of registered voters:

• Population: 65,630,692 (July 2012 est.)
• Registered Voters: 46,028,542 (April 2012 )

Gender Data:

·         Female Population: 33,689,339 (2012)

·         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: No

·         Number of Female Parliamentarians: 155 (National Assembly) following 2012 election; 49 (Senate) following 2011 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: 9,844,603 (est.)