What basic rules need to be followed in the French general election?

1. Who is eligible to vote?

To be able to vote in the elections, you only need to be a French citizen over 18 years old, with civil and political rights (certain prisoners are not allowed to vote in France as an additional punishment for their crimes) . Unlike Australia and Brazil, voting in French elections is not compulsory.

French voters must register for the election before January 1, 2017. Foreigners who have recently turned 18, acquired French citizenship, retired from civil service or returned from military deployment will be able to vote after the deadline.

French citizens living abroad can also vote. However, due to fear of ballot interference, these voters can no longer vote electronically and instead vote by mail.

2. Who can become a presidential candidate?

Anyone can become a presidential candidate as long as they get 500 signatures from supporters in the three weeks before March 17, 2017. These signatures must be distributed among at least 30 different departments, with no more than 50 signatures per department.

Now, the official rules are starting to get more complicated, this is France after all.

3. How much money can candidates spend on campaigning?

During the first "official" campaign period, which begins on April 10, 2017, candidates can go to every polling station to canvass votes in order to win the first round of voting.

However, France still has restrictions on the extent to which candidates can be "extravagant" in election campaigns. To help even out the campaign space between France's large and small parties, legal campaign expenses cannot exceed a certain threshold. Spending in the first round cannot exceed €16.8 million and in the second round €22.5 million.

4. How do candidates obtain campaign funds?

In the spirit of equalizing the chances of each candidate and minimizing the influence of donors, French presidential candidates are compensated for certain campaign costs.

Candidates who get more than 5 votes in the first round of the election will be reimbursed 47.5 for campaign expenses, while candidates who do not get so many votes only need to reimburse 4.75. However, this does not mean that French presidential candidates can spend their campaign budgets on large luxury cars and spend money unscrupulously for the campaign. The state only reimburses certain campaign expenses, such as television and radio campaigns, printing, and the cost of posting posters in official places.

5. What about private donors?

Most candidates' campaigns are usually privately funded, although only 4,600 euros are allowed per person. Any donation exceeding €150 must be made by check, bank transfer or commissioned payment into the candidate's official campaign account. Under such strict regulations, it is hoped that there will be no problems with the funding of French candidates.

6. Are there any rules for conducting electioneering activities?

French presidential candidates are allowed to participate in the campaign by printing posters and holding rallies. However, they are not allowed to take the form of television advertising that may be seen in the United States and other countries. During the official five-week campaign period, each candidate is allowed to make a small number of speeches to drum up votes for themselves, but must follow certain rules and timings.

7. What rules must the media follow?

The time for TV and radio broadcasts of candidates, as well as the time for candidates to speak on the radio, will be strictly controlled by the French Audiovisual Commission.

In earlier elections, France enforced a rule that each candidate would be given a strict, equal amount of time to speak on the radio. However, as of April 2016, things have changed.

Candidates will now be given "fair" speaking time between the release of their slate and the start of official events. This means that the timing of their live broadcasts will be determined by support from the last election and opinion polls.

However, as long as the official campaign begins on April 10, the time for candidates to speak on television and radio will still be equal before the reform.

This means that Nathalie Arnaud, the leader of the little-known "Workers' Struggle Party", only needs to obtain the signatures of 500 supporters to get the same speaking time as Fillon and Macron. The latter two candidates are leading the race.

The French media will be in big trouble if they announce the final results before 8 p.m. on election day, even though reporters usually know who the final winner is by 7 p.m.

8. What are the rules for public opinion polls?

The voting rules for this year’s French election have changed. Now, any election poll must mention what proportion of voters did not give an answer and give information on how to obtain the original results.

On the day of the vote and the day before, France prohibits publishing, broadcasting or commenting on any voting intentions of the people.