Page 293 - DPOL202_COMPARATIVE_POLITICS_AND_GOVERNMENT_ENGLISH

Comparative Politics and Government

Notes of 1919), electoral participation never fell to less than 71 percent of registered voters, and in most
elections participation was much higher.
Table 12.2 French Referendums (R) and Second Ballots of Presidental Elections (P), 1958–2002
(Voting in Metropolitan France)

“Yes” Votes + “No” Votes +
Votes for Winning Votes for Losing
Candidate Candidate

Regist- Absten-
ered tions (perce- (perce- (perce- (perce-
Voters (perce- ntage ntage ntage ntage
Date (millions) registered) registered) cast) Winner registered) cast) Loser

9/28/58(R) 26.6 15.1 66.4 79.2 17.4 20.7
l/8/61(R) 27.2 23.5 55.9 75.3 18.4 24.7
4/8/62(R) 27.0 24.4 64.9 90.7 6.6 9.3
10/28/62(R) 27.6 22.7 46.4 61.7 28.8 38.2
12/19/65(P) 28.2 15.4 44.8 54.5 De Gaulle 37.4 45.5 Mitterrand
4/18/69(R) 28.7 19.4 36.7 46.7 41.6 53.2
6/15/69(P) 28.8 30.9 37.2 57.5 Pompidou 27.4 42.4 Poher
4/23/72(R) 29.1 39.5 36.1 67.7 17.2 32.3
5/19/74(P) 29.8 12.1 43.9 50.7 Giscard 42.8 49.3 Mitterrand
d’Estaing
5/10/81(P) 35.5 13.6 43.8 52.2 Mitterrand 40.1 47.8 Giscard
d’Estaing
5/8/88(P) 38.2 15.9 43.8 54.0 Mitterrand 37.3 46.0 Chirac
11/6/88(R) 37.8 63.0 26.1 80.0 6.5 20.0
9/20/92(R) 37.1 28.9 34.9 50.8 33.8 49.2
5/7/95(P) 39.9 20.1 39.5 52.6 Chirac 35.6 47.4 Jospin
9/24/00(R) 39.6 69.7 18.6 73.2 6.8 26.8
6/5/02(P) 41.2 20.3 62.0 82.2 Chirac 13.4 17.8 Le Pen

Source: Official results from the Ministry of the Interior.
Voting participation in elections of the Fifth Republic has undergone a significant change and fluctuates
far more than during previous republics. Abstention tends to be highest in referendums and European
elections, and lowest in presidential contests, with other elections falling somewhere in between (see
Table 12.2).
In 2002, a new record was set for abstention in a presidential election, when 27.9 percent of the
registered voters stayed home. During the 1980s, the normal level of abstention in legislative elections
increased substantially, and remains high. In the 2002 legislative election, an abstention rate of 35.6
percent set a record for legislative elections for any of the French republics. The elections for the
European Parliament always attract relatively few voters, but in 1999 more than half the registered
voters stayed home (slightly more than in 1994). For referendums, a new record was set in 2000:
almost 70 percent of the registered voters chose not to vote in a (successful) referendum to reduce the
presidential term from 7 to 5 years (after the elections of 2002).

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