French voters head to polls for the first round of local elections

Nearly six years after a municipal election overshadowed by the Covid-19 pandemic, French voters are returning to the polls on Sunday for the first round of local elections.

In total, 48.7 million voters are eligible to cast their ballots across some 35,000 municipalities, from small rural villages to major cities.

Polling stations opened at 8:00 am in mainland France and Corsica.

The first results cannot be published before 8:00 pm local time, when polling stations close in the largest cities.

Elsewhere, the polls will close gradually between 6:00 pm and 7:00 pm.

Voter turnout under scrutiny

Voter participation will be one of the key indicators of this local election.

In 2020, the first round of municipal elections took place in exceptional circumstances, just days before France entered its first nationwide lockdown due to COVID-19, which significantly affected turnout.

This time, abstention rates will be closely analysed as a potential sign of democratic fatigue.

However, French mayors remain among the country’s most trusted political figures, according to several opinion polls.

Nearly 900,000 candidates

According to figures from the Interior Ministry, around 900,000 candidates are competing in the first round, across nearly 50,000 candidate lists.

In most municipalities, however, the outcome could be known quickly.

In almost 32,000 out of 35,000 municipalities, the mayor is expected to be elected in the first round.

This is largely due to the limited number of competing lists: in 68% of municipalities, only one candidate list has been registered.

By contrast, some cities are seeing intense competition. Montpellier in southern France holds the record with 13 lists registered for the first round.

In 68 municipalities, no candidates have come forward. In these cases, the state’s local representative — the prefect — will appoint an interim administration until a new election can be organised or, in some cases, until the municipality merges with a neighbouring one.

Another notable trend is the decline in the number of incumbents seeking re-election.

According to a study by the Cevipof political research centre, 63% of outgoing mayors are running again, down from 72% in 2014 and 69% in 2020.

What is at stake?

While the outcome already appears clear in most municipalities, several major cities could see fiercely contested second rounds.

In Paris, the race to succeed outgoing mayor Anne Hidalgo is expected to be particularly tight, with a heated contest between Rachida Dati, candidate of the conservative party Les Républicains, and Emmanuel Grégoire from the Socialist Party.

Uncertainty is also high in Marseille, Nice, Nantes and Toulouse, where several candidate lists are expected to qualify for the second round.

For several political parties, the stakes are high. The Greens, boosted by the “green wave” of the 2020 municipal elections, must defend major cities such as Lyon, Strasbourg and Bordeaux.

President Emmanuel Macron’s party, Renaissance, meanwhile, continues to struggle to establish a strong local presence across the country.

On the far right, the National Rally (RN) hopes to make new gains at the local level.

At the same time, tensions between former allies in the left-wing New Popular Front coalition, particularly between the Socialist Party and the hard-left party La France Insoumise, have shaped much of the campaign.

Although municipal elections primarily focus on local governance — such as urban planning, schools and local services — their national political implications are difficult to ignore, with just over a year to go before France’s next presidential election.