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This year, the French elected their new President of the Republic. Several candidates hope to be able to present themselves officially. But can everyone be a candidate for the presidential election? Do you have to fulfill certain conditions?
OBTAINING “PERSONAL CONDITIONS”
The conditions for running for the presidency are the same as for running as a deputy. Four main conditions can be cited. You must first be of French nationality, including by naturalization. Must be at least 18 years old. In addition, you must not be in “major incapacity”, that is to say not be placed under guardianship or curatorship. Finally, the candidate must have the right to vote and not have been declared ineligible by a court decision.
GET ALL 500 SIGNATURES
For the candidacy for the presidential election to be validated, it is necessary to obtain 500 signatures from certain elected officials: these are in particular deputies, senators, regional advisers, general advisers, and mayors, excluding municipal advisers. The prefecture will send each elected representative likely to sponsor a form on which the elected representative can designate the candidate of his choice. This form is then returned to the Constitutional Council which will verify the validity and sincerity of the consent of the elected representative. For each candidate, the list of 500 elected signatories (drawn by lot when the number of “sponsors” exceeds this figure) is published in the Official Journal.
IS THE ELECTORAL CAMPAIGN EXPENSIVE?
A presidential election campaign is very expensive. To promote the equality of candidates, a system of public financing of the electoral campaign has therefore been put in place. There is a spending ceiling: approximately 17 million euros for candidates present in the first round, and 22.5 million euros for candidates present in the second round. The candidates are then entitled to reimbursement by the State of their personal expenses within the limit of one-twentieth of the amount of the ceiling, or half of their expenses for the candidates having obtained more than 5% of the votes. An advance on this fixed reimbursement of an amount of 150,000 euros is granted from the start of the campaign.
Société d’Avocats DAMY , Nice, Who can stand for the presidential election? 2022 Update
