Senatorial elections have been held on 24 September 2017 to renew 170 of 348 seats in the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

of the

French Fifth Republic The Fifth Republic (french: Cinquième République) is France's current republic, republican system of government. It was established on 4 October 1958 by Charles de Gaulle under the Constitution of France, Constitution of the Fifth Republic.. ...

Organization

Senators concerned

Since 2011, the

French Senate The Senate (french: Sénat, ) is the upper house of the French Parliament, with the lower house being the National Assembly (France), National Assembly, the two houses constituting the legislature of France. The French Senate is made up of 34 ...

has been renewed, using two series, every three years. The senatorial elections on 24 September 2017 concern 170 outgoing senators within series 1 across 44 constituencies in addition to half the seats of senators representing French residents overseas. Specifically, the renewal includes seats representing 38 metropolitan

department Department may refer to: * Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility Government and military *Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...

s numbered between 37 (

Indre-et-Loire Indre-et-Loire () is a department in west-central France named after the Indre River and Loire River The Loire (, also ; ; oc, Léger, ; la, Liger) is the longest river in France and the 171st longest in the world. With a length of , it ...

) and 66 (

Pyrénées-Orientales Pyrénées-Orientales (; ca, Pirineus Orientals ; oc, Pirenèus Orientals ; ), also known as Northern Catalonia, is a department of the region of Occitania, Southern France, adjacent to the northern Spanish frontier and the Mediterranean Sea. ...

), the departments of

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, four overseas departments (

Guadeloupe Guadeloupe (; ; gcf, label=Antillean Creole, Gwadloup, ) is an archipelago and overseas department and region of France in the Caribbean. It consists of six inhabited islands—Basse-Terre, Grande-Terre, Marie-Galante, La Désirade, and the ...

Martinique Martinique ( , ; gcf, label=Martinican Creole, Matinik or ; Kalinago: or ) is an island and an overseas department/region and single territorial collectivity of France. An integral part of the French Republic, Martinique is located in th ...

Réunion Réunion (; french: La Réunion, ; previously ''Île Bourbon''; rcf, label= Reunionese Creole, La Rényon) is an island in the Indian Ocean that is an overseas department and region of France. It is located approximately east of the island ...

, and

Mayotte Mayotte (; french: Mayotte, ; Shimaore: ''Maore'', ; Kibushi: ''Maori'', ), officially the Department of Mayotte (french: Département de Mayotte), is an overseas department and region and single territorial collectivity of France. It is loc ...

), two overseas collectivities (

Saint Pierre and Miquelon Saint Pierre and Miquelon (), officially the Territorial Collectivity of Saint-Pierre and Miquelon (french: link=no, Collectivité territoriale de Saint-Pierre et Miquelon ), is a self-governing territorial overseas collectivity of France in t ...

and

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), and 6 of 12 sieges of senators representing French residents overseas. Of these seats, 136 are elected proportionally and 34 by majority. The vacant series 2 seat in

Savoie Savoie (; Arpitan: ''Savouè'' or ''Savouè-d'Avâl''; English: ''Savoy'' ) is a department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, Southeastern France. Located in the French Alps, its prefecture is Chambéry. In 2019, Savoie had a population of ...

will be filled separately with a by-election also held on 24 September.

Electoral system

Two methods are used to elect senators. The two-round majority vote is used in constituencies which elect 1 or 2 senators, affecting 18 constituencies and 34 seats in the 2017 elections. The candidate and their alternate must be of a different sex. In order to be elected in the first round, a candidate must secure an absolute majority of votes and a number of votes equal to at least a quarter of electors. If not, a second round is organized, in which case a relative majority will be enough for a candidate to be elected. In case of a tie, the oldest of the candidates is elected. Proportional representation is used in constituencies electing 3 or more senators; in the case of the 2017 elections, this affects 26 constituencies and 130 seats, in addition to the 6 seats for senators representing French residents overseas. Each list must be composed alternately of candidates of each sex. Senators are elected through indirect universal suffrage by an electoral college composed of deputies, senators, regional councillors elected within a department, councillors of the

Corsican Assembly The Corsican Assembly ( co, Assemblea di Corsica; french: L'Assemblée de Corse) is the unicameral legislative body of the territorial collectivity of Corsica. It has its seat at the , in the Corsican capital of Ajaccio. After the 2017 territo ...

designated under conditions set out within the electoral code, councillors of the

Guianese Assembly The Assembly of French Guiana (french: Assemblée de Guyane) is the regional legislature of French Guiana. It was first elected in 2015, replacing the General Council of French Guiana and the Regional Council of French Guiana. It was establis ...

, councillors of the Martinican Assembly, and departmental councillors. Delegates of municipal councils, however, make up the large majority of the electoral college, representing 95% of the 162,000 electors. The number of delegates of the municipal councils depends on the municipal population authenticated on 1 January 2014 by the census. Delegates must be French nationals and be registered on the electoral list of the municipality in question.

Candidates

The minimum age for candidates in the senatorial elections is 24 years. After the 2014 renewal, the average age of senators was 61 years. Since the law on the accumulation of mandates of 14 February 2014, parliamentary mandates have been considered incompatible with local executive functions (president or vice-president of regional or departmental councils, mayor or deputies to mayors, and similar offices). This rule applies to all senators elected, re-elected, or in office as of 2 October 2017.

Results

Composition before renewal

Composition after renewal

Election of president

Gérard Larcher Gérard Philippe René André Larcher (born 14 September 1949) is a French politician serving as President of the Senate since 2014, previously holding the office from 2008 to 2011. A member of The Republicans, he has been a Senator for the Yveli ...

was re-elected

president of the Senate President of the Senate is a title often given to the presiding officer of a senate. It corresponds to the speaker in some other assemblies. The senate president often ranks high in a jurisdiction's succession for its top executive office: for e ...

on 2 October 2017, challenged only by Didier Guillaume and

Éliane Assassi Éliane Assassi (born 2 October 1958) is a French politician and a member of the Senate of France, representing the Seine-Saint-Denis department. She is a member of the Communist, Republican, Citizen and Ecologist group. See also * Women in ...

References

External links

Official website for the 2017 senatorial elections

Composition by political group before renewal

List of series 1 senators by constituency
{{French Senate 2017 elections in France

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...

September 2017 events in France