2011 French cantonal elections

none February 2022 Cantonal elections to elect half the membership of the general councils of France's 100 departments were held on 20 and 27 March 2011. Electoral system The cantonal elections use a two-round system similar to that employed in the country's legislative elections. Councillors are elected from single-member constituencies (cantons). A candidate securing the votes of at least 25% of the canton's registered voters and more than 50% of the total number of votes actually cast in the first round of voting is thereby elected. If no candidate satisfies these conditions, then a second round of voting is held one week later. Entitled to present themselves in the second round are the two candidates who received the highest number of votes in the first round, plus any other candidate or candidates who received the votes of at least 12.5% of those registered to vote in the canton. This threshold used to be set at 10% and was modified for this election. In the second round, the candidate receiving the highest number of votes is elected. Context French cantonal elections are usually paired with another election; for example, they were paired with the regional elections in 1998, the municipal elections in 2001, the regional elections in 2004, and the municipal elections in 2008. The 2011 elections were the first cantonal elections since 1992 not to be paired with another election. Since cantonal councillors are electors for the senatorial elections, and considering that the forces in the Senate are, as of March 2011 almost balanced, the results of this election could play a role in the September 2011 senatorial elections. Opinion polls The poll below was conducted only in cantons subject to renewal. Polling firm Fieldwork date Samplesize Abs. Abstention EXG FG PS/PRG DVG EELV/ECO MoDem UMP/NC DVD FN DIV 2011 election 20 March 2011 – 55.68% 0.58% 8.92% 26.43% 5.41% 8.59% 1.22% 22.43% 9.32% 15.06% 2.03% Harris Interactive 12–13 Mar 2011 1,240 – 1% 10% 32% 9% 2% 28% 15% 3% Results Party affiliation of the General Council Presidents of the various departments in the elections of 2011|right|thumb PartyFirst round Second roundTotal seatsVotes%SeatsVotes %SeatsSocialist Party (Parti socialiste) 2,284,967 24.941502,802,09435.43670820Europe Écologie – Les Verts752,9928.220216,1442.732727Communist Party (Parti communiste français) 724,9117.9119381,0964.8297116Miscellaneous Left (Divers gauche)495,8225.4157437,8235.54137194Left Radical Party (Parti radical de gauche)135,9581.4817119,9671.513451 Left Party (Parti de gauche) 92,386 1.01 116,0950.2045Total Parliamentary Left 4,487,036 48.97 2443,972,94950.239681,212Union for a Popular Movement (Union pour un mouvement populaire) 1,554,744 16.97 92 1,581,75620.00277369 Miscellaneous Right (Divers droite)853,8929.3277744,1709.41187264 Presidential Majority-New Centre (Majorité-Nouveau Centre)293,5433.2016289,3283.664258Presidential Majority (Majorité) 206,4882.2521197,0852.494162Total "Presidential Majority"2,908,66731.742062,812,33935.56547753 National Front (Front national) 1,379,902 15.06 0915,50411.5722Others (Autres)123,5431.35695,2511.202834 Democratic Movement (Mouvement démocrate)111,8871.22274,2240.941416Other Far-left (Extrême gauche) 53,316 0.58 02730.0000Regionalists and separatists48,4680.53218,2800.2335 Other ecologists34,1120.37016,0740.2022 Other far-right (Extrême droite)13,6730.1504,9320.0611Totals9,160,604100.004607,909,826100.001,5662,026Turnout9,439,09744.328 513 39944.77 Abstention: 55.68%; invalid ballots; 2.95% Sources Results (Ministère de l'Intérieur) Category:2011 elections in Europe 2011 Category:2011 in French politics