French cantonal elections, 2004
Encyclopedia
Cantonal elections to elect half the membership of the general councils of France's 100 departments were held on 21 and 28 March 2004. These elections coincided with the left's landslide in the regional elections
held at the same time and also resulted in strong performances by the Socialist Party
(PS) and its allies on the left, leaving the Socialists in control of a majority of departments.
Ministry of the Interior results
French regional elections, 2004
Regional elections in were held in France on 21 and 28 March 2004. At stake were the presidencies of each of France's 26 regions which, although they do not have legislative powers, manage sizeable budgets...
held at the same time and also resulted in strong performances by the Socialist Party
Socialist Party (France)
The Socialist Party is a social-democratic political party in France and the largest party of the French centre-left. It is one of the two major contemporary political parties in France, along with the center-right Union for a Popular Movement...
(PS) and its allies on the left, leaving the Socialists in control of a majority of departments.
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 (the cantonsCantons of FranceThe cantons of France are territorial subdivisions of the French Republic's 342 arrondissements and 101 departments.Apart from their role as organizational units in certain aspects of the administration of public services and justice, the chief purpose of the cantons today is to serve as...
). - 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 10% of those registered to vote in the canton.
- In the second round, the candidate receiving the highest number of votes is elected.
From right to left
- Hautes-AlpesHautes-AlpesHautes-Alpes is a department in southeastern France named after the Alps mountain range.- History :Hautes-Alpes is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790...
(DVG) - CharenteCharenteCharente is a department in southwestern France, in the Poitou-Charentes region, named after the Charente River, the most important river in the department, and also the river beside which the department's two largest towns, Angoulême and Cognac, are sited.-History:Charente is one of the original...
(PS) - Cher (PS)
- DoubsDoubsDoubs is a department the Franche-Comté region of eastern France named after the Doubs River.-History:As early as the 13th century, inhabitants of the northern two-thirds of Doubs spoke the Franc-Comtois language, a dialect of Langue d'Oïl. Residents of the southern third of Doubs spoke a dialect...
(PS) - DrômeDrômeDrôme , a department in southeastern France, takes its name from the Drôme River.-History:The French National Constituent Assembly set up Drôme as one of the original 83 departments of France on March 4, 1790, during the French Revolution...
(PS) - Ille-et-VilaineIlle-et-VilaineIlle-et-Vilaine is a department of France, located in the region of Brittany in the northwest of the country.- History :Ille-et-Vilaine is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790...
(PS) - Loire-AtlantiqueLoire-AtlantiqueLoire-Atlantique is a department on the west coast of France named after the Loire River and the Atlantic Ocean.-History:...
(PS) - OiseOiseOise is a department in the north of France. It is named after the river Oise.-History:Oise is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790...
(PS) - Saône-et-LoireSaône-et-LoireSaône-et-Loire is a French department, named after the Saône and the Loire rivers between which it lies.-History:When it was formed during the French Revolution, as of March 4, 1790 in fulfillment of the law of December 22, 1789, the new department combined parts of the provinces of southern...
(PS) - Seine-MaritimeSeine-MaritimeSeine-Maritime is a French department in the Haute-Normandie region in northern France. It is situated on the northern coast of France, at the mouth of the Seine, and includes the cities of Rouen and Le Havre...
(PS) - Seine-et-MarneSeine-et-MarneSeine-et-Marne is a French department, named after the Seine and Marne rivers, and located in the Île-de-France region.- History:Seine-et-Marne is one of the original 83 departments, created on March 4, 1790 during the French Revolution in application of the law of December 22, 1789...
(PS)
National results
| Party/Alliance | General council Presidencies | Votes | % (first round) | Votes | % (second round) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PS Socialist Party (France) The Socialist Party is a social-democratic political party in France and the largest party of the French centre-left. It is one of the two major contemporary political parties in France, along with the center-right Union for a Popular Movement... |
44 | 3,226,525 | 26.25% | 4,010,716 | 38.56% | |
| UMP Union for a Popular Movement The Union for a Popular Movement is a centre-right political party in France, and one of the two major contemporary political parties in the country along with the center-left Socialist Party... |
37 | 2,574,331 | 20.94% | 2,831,478 | 27.22% | |
| UDF Union for French Democracy The Union for French Democracy was a French centrist political party. It was founded in 1978 as an electoral alliance to support President Valéry Giscard d'Estaing in order to counterbalance the Gaullist preponderance over the right. This name was chosen due to the title of Giscard d'Estaing's... |
8 | 584,587 | 4.76% | 484,204 | 4.65% | |
| PRG Left Radical Party The Radical Party of the Left is a minor social-liberal, and in opposition to its common understanding of its name, a moderate centre-left political party in France advocating radicalism, secularism to its french extend known as laïcité, progressivism, pro-Europeanism, individual freedom and... |
3 | 156,305 | 1.27% | 134,365 | 1.29% | |
| PCF French Communist Party The French Communist Party is a political party in France which advocates the principles of communism.Although its electoral support has declined in recent decades, the PCF retains a large membership, behind only that of the Union for a Popular Movement , and considerable influence in French... |
2 | 957,223 | 7.80% | 492,815 | 4.74% | |
| Miscellaneous Left Miscellaneous Left Miscellaneous Left in France refers to left-wing candidates that are not member of any large party. They either include small left-wing parties or dissidents expelled from their parties for running against their party's candidate. Numerous DVG candidates are elected at a local level, and a smaller... |
2 | 740,521 | 6.02% | 616,631 | 5.93% | |
| Miscellaneous Right Miscellaneous Right Miscellaneous Right in France refers to right-wing candidates that are not member of any large party. They either include small right-wing parties, dissidents expelled from their parties for running against their party's candidate, as well as candidates who were never formal members of a party... |
2 | 1,396,741 | 11.36% | 1,103,938 | 10.61% | |
| MPF Movement for France The Movement for France , abbreviated to MPF, is a French conservative and eurosceptic political party, founded on 20 November 1994, with a marked regional stronghold in the Vendée. It is led by Philippe de Villiers, once communications minister under Jacques Chirac.The party is considered... |
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| Miscellaneous | 1 | 132,883 | 1.08% | 83,622 | 0.80% | |
| FN | 0 | 1,490,315 | 12.13% | 502,973 | 4.84% | |
| Les Verts The Greens (France) The Greens were a Green political party to the centre-left of the political spectrum in France. They had officially been in existence since 1984, but their spiritual roots could be traced as far back as René Dumont’s candidacy for the presidency in 1974... |
0 | 502,142 | 4.09% | 101,434 | 0.98% | |
| Far-Left | 0 | 367,817 | 2.99% | 6,271 | 0.06% | |
| Regionalists | 0 | 50,143 | 0.41% | 13,180 | 0.13% | |
| Ecologists | 0 | 48,838 | 0.40% | 4,588 | 0.04% | |
| MNR National Republican Movement The National Republican Movement is a French nationalist political party, created by Bruno Mégret with former Club de l'Horloge alumni, Yvan Blot and Jean-Yves Le Gallou, as a split from Jean-Marie Le Pen's National Front on January 24, 1999.Although political observers have considered the MNR to... |
0 | 44,251 | 0.36% | 11,620 | 0.11% | |
| CPNT | 0 | 17,786 | 0.14% | 4,358 | 0.04% | |
Sources
E-PMinistry of the Interior results