French Senate elections

Senators in France are elected by indirect universal suffrage, by a panel of "electors".

The last irremovable senator (inamovible in French), Émile Deshayes de Marcère, died in 1918.

In 2000, Parliament passed a law to move to a proportional list in the departments with three or more senators, and an increase in the number of delegates for large municipalities, but this measure was vetoed by the Constitutional Council because the Senate is to represent the local authorities.

The minimum age was reduced from 35 to 30 years, proportional representation began applying only to departments with four or more senators.

[4] In 2012, Commission sur la rénovation et la déontologie de la vie publique (Committee on elections and ethics in public life) led by Lionel Jospin made several proposals to Parliament: ensure a fairer representation of local authorities in the Senate using a weighted vote of electors and removing deputies from the electoral college, extending the use of proportional representation for the election of senators and lowering to 18 the minimum age of eligibility the Senate.

Only the extension of proportional representation to Departments of three senators or more and is retained, as well as increasing the number of delegates from the major cities in a law enacted in 2013.

A draft organic law presented by the Cabinet on April 3, 2013, seeks to prohibit the accumulation of local executive functions with the office of Deputy or Senator starting March 31, 2017.

[32] Electors are required to vote, a fine of 100 Euro must be paid in the event of an unjustified abstention.