Find your town and see the list of candidates for the 2026 municipal elections:
The Essentials
- The first round of the 2026 municipal elections is taking place in approximately 35,000 communes across France on Sunday, March 15. Polling stations will open at 8 a.m. Results from Paris, Lyon, Marseille, Toulouse, Nantes, Perpignan, Le Havre, and elsewhere are anticipated starting at 8 p.m.
- Pre-election polls have indicated clear trends, and in some cities, the races are particularly close. Several major metropolitan areas have seen the elections take on national significance, with high-profile figures facing considerable stakes.
- However, the outcome is already decided in many smaller and medium-sized towns. In over 25,000 communes, only one list of candidates is running, and new voting rules for 2026, which prevent ballot splitting or adding names, have eliminated any suspense.
- Results will be available city by city and commune by commune as soon as they are released by the Ministry of the Interior Sunday evening. Follow live updates with practical information and highlights from the eve of the election.
Live Updates
11:12 PM – How will the results impact your bus fare?
While fares are often decided at the intercommunal level, the mayor wields significant political influence in these decisions. The outcome of the 2026 municipal elections will determine the transport fare strategy. Some candidates advocate for complete free fares to encourage modal shift, while others prefer maintaining low fares but investing heavily in frequency, and safety. The election results in 2026 will directly impact household transport budgets. A city that shifts towards a majority favoring free fares will radically change the daily mobility of its residents, making transport a universal public service funded by taxes rather than by the user.
10:48 PM – Who staffs the polling stations during the municipal elections?
A polling station consists of a chair, at least two assessors, and a secretary. These individuals are designated by the mayor or the candidate lists. They ensure the smooth running of the electoral process and the regularity of the ballot and results.
10:12 PM – Do voters need to vote twice in all communes?
No, double voting only applies to Paris, Lyon, and Marseille. In all other communes, voters vote as before, with a single ballot. This specificity is due to the particular status of these large cities and the abandonment of their former exceptional voting system in 2026.
9:53 PM – Is the election outcome already known in many smaller towns?
Yes. In more than 25,000 communes, only one list of candidates is running, and the new voting rules for 2026, which prevent ballot splitting or adding names, have eliminated any suspense.
9:33 PM – The results of the municipal elections will be available city by city as soon as they are released by the Ministry of the Interior.
Follow our live coverage tonight and tomorrow with practical information and highlights from the eve of the election.
9:11 PM – What constitutes a blank vote?
A blank vote consists of placing an empty envelope or a ballot without a name in the ballot box. It allows the voter to express their rejection of the choices offered without abstaining. Blank votes are counted separately since 2014, but they are not included in the expressed votes. Their symbolic weight is therefore important, but their impact on the final result remains limited.
8:51 PM – What is the term of office for a mayor?
The term of office for municipal councilors and the mayor is six years. This duration aims to guarantee a certain stability in local management, while allowing voters to sanction or re-elect a municipal team at regular intervals. Early municipal elections can be organized in the event of the dissolution of the municipal council or mass resignations rendering its operation impossible.
8:19 PM – How many municipal councilors are elected?
The number of municipal councilors depends on the population of the commune. It varies from 7 elected officials in the smallest communes to 69 in Paris, Lyon, and Marseille, which have special status. This number is fixed by law to ensure proportional representation to the population size.
7:26 PM – Is the mayor directly elected by citizens?
No, voters vote for a list or candidates for the municipal council. Once the council is formed, its members elect the mayor among themselves during the first session. The mayor is therefore elected by indirect universal suffrage.
7:12 PM – Why aren’t there national polls for these municipal elections?
If you read somewhere, “The RN at 30% in the municipal elections,” it’s an optical illusion. Municipal elections are a sum of 35,000 local situations. The notoriety of the outgoing mayor often overshadows the political label. A party can be very high nationally but have no credible candidates or no local presence in a medium-sized town. In 2026, the results of the municipal elections will likely indicate this discrepancy.
6:17 PM – Do you have to take all the ballots on the table before entering the voting booth?
There are two cases: if the voter already has their ballot, they can simply take the envelope. However, if they wish to utilize a ballot provided on site, they must take ballots from at least two lists. This is very important, as it guarantees the secrecy of the vote. No one will realize which ballot was chosen or if a ballot was placed in the envelope.
6:12 PM – Can an election be canceled for a simple flyer?
Yes, in certain circumstances. Case law has already held that a flyer distributed on the eve of the election, containing serious accusations or information impossible to verify before the vote, could constitute an electoral maneuver. The judge analyzes the content, the timing of distribution, and the margin of votes. If the flyer is deemed likely to have influenced the result, the election may be canceled, even if the irregularity seems limited in appearance.
5:25 PM – How do you create a proxy vote?
Giving a proxy for the municipal elections of March 15 and 22, 2026, is done in four steps, on the government website of the Service Public. First, you must enter the reason for the proxy, in this case, “The municipal, metropolitan and arrondissement elections,” and choose the validity of this proxy: either for the first round, March 15, or for the second round, March 22, or for both rounds.
5:12 PM – How are blank votes integrated into the official results?
Since the 2014 law, blank ballots (empty envelope or blank paper) are counted separately from null votes and are mentioned separately in the minutes of each polling station. However, they are not included in the calculation of “expressed votes.” This means that the percentages obtained by the candidates are calculated only on the basis of votes cast on a name. A candidate can therefore be elected in the first round with an absolute majority of expressed votes, even if the number of blank votes is very high. The blank vote remains an indicator of political disapproval of the electoral offer, but it has no legal influence on the validity of the result or on the need to organize a second round, contrary to what some defenders of its full recognition would like.
4:40 PM – Can you vote without your voter card?
Forgot it? Lost it? If you can’t find your voter card, you can still vote this Sunday, March 15, for the first round of the municipal elections. However, you must present a valid ID.
4:12 PM – What time do voters vote during the municipal elections?
Polling stations generally open at 8 a.m. The closing time varies depending on the commune: it is often set at 6 p.m., but can be extended to 7 or 8 p.m. In large cities. This time frame aims to allow as many citizens as possible to vote. The results can only be officially announced after the last polling station closes.
3:40 PM – Is there a time limit in the voting booth?
There are several rules in a polling station. And before dropping your ballot in the ballot box, you will pass through the voting booth. You must not be accompanied. Young children are tolerated. Solid news, there will be no timer in the voting booth. You can stay as long as you want.
3:00 PM – Is there a dress code for voting?
If you’ve planned to think about what to wear to vote, don’t worry, the rules are quite flexible. You can come as you are. “The attire is free. However, the attire must allow you to see the voter’s face. Even if it’s sunny, you’ll need to remove sunglasses or a large-brimmed hat for a few seconds,” says Vérène Gribonval, polling station chair in Lyon, on the info.gouv.fr website.
2:12 PM – Is a municipal councilor considered an employee of the commune?
No. Elected officials are not employees, but holders of an electoral mandate. They receive allowances, which do not constitute a salary in the legal sense. This distinction has consequences for their social protection and tax regime.
1:20 PM – How is the computer security of the results guaranteed?
Tonight, the transmission of the results of the municipal elections to the Ministry of the Interior uses secure networks. To prevent any manipulation or cyberattack, the system relies on a double check: the digital transmission is doubled by the physical sending of signed minutes. In case of a difference between the figure displayed on the screen and the paper, the paper prevails. This redundancy is the key to democratic confidence. State services (ANSSI) are particularly monitoring the servers during this night to prevent any intrusion that could modify the display of the results and create a disturbance to public order or a viral false information.
1:12 PM – Where can I find the address of my polling station?
The address of the polling station is on the voter card sent by the town hall. It is also available online on the service-public.fr website or directly from the town hall. If you have recently moved, it is recommended to check your polling station before election day.
11:58 AM – How do the municipal elections influence the senatorial elections?
The municipal elections of 2026 will have a direct and massive impact on the composition of the Senate. Municipal councilors constitute about 95% of the college of “great electors” responsible for electing senators. The result of the town halls therefore directly determines the political color of the Senate for the following years. A progression of the left or the right in medium-sized towns and villages mechanically translates into a shift of seats in the upper house during the next senatorial renewal. This is why national parties invest so much energy in municipal elections: beyond local management, it is about ensuring legislative influence in the Senate, capable of blocking or slowing down the reforms of the government in office.
Learn More
- March 15, 2026 – First round of the municipal election and results at 8 p.m.
- March 17, 2026 at 6 p.m. – Deadline for submitting candidacies for the second round
- March 22, 2026 – Second round of the municipal election and results at 8 p.m.
The most immediate date to remember is the first round of the election, which takes place this Sunday, March 15, 2026. As soon as the polls close at 6 p.m. Or 8 p.m. Depending on the city, the first estimates provide an outline of the balance of power. The results of the 2026 municipal elections for each commune will be published on this page.
Who are the candidates for the 2026 municipal elections?
All candidates for the 2026 municipal elections have submitted their complete list to the prefecture no later than February 26. It is possible to consult the lists of candidates for the municipal elections, commune by commune.
As every year, the results of the 2026 municipal elections are published city by city on Linternaute.com, as soon as the partial results are released by the Ministry of the Interior on March 15 and until the final results of the second round on March 22. Consult the results of previous municipal elections and start following the issues in your city or commune before the election.
Map of municipal election results
Municipal result Haute-Garonne
LFI or far left
PS or left
Ecologists
Various
REN or center
LR or right
RN or far right
The operation of municipal elections was previously determined according to the size of the communes. In communes of less than 1,000 inhabitants, it was possible to run alone, as an individual candidate. Voters also had the option of crossing out one or more names on the lists presented to them or adding new names, without invalidating their ballot. The law of May 21, 2025 put an end to these specificities. It generalized the paritarian list voting system to all communes.
for the 2026 municipal elections, in all communes of France without exception, voters now vote for a list with as many names on the list as there are seats to be filled, composed of half men and half women. At the end of the first round, if a list has obtained an absolute majority of the votes expressed (50% of the votes plus one), it wins directly half of the seats on the municipal council. And the other half of the seats are distributed proportionally among all the lists that have obtained more than 5% of the votes expressed (including the list that came in first).
The list that achieved the best result in the 2026 municipal elections will be largely favored by this “majoritarian bonus” voting system. If no list obtained a majority absolute, a second round must be organized. All lists that received more than 10% of the votes are authorized to participate in this 2nd round. But it is possible to modify these lists by merging them with a list that obtained more than 5% of the votes expressed. At the end of the 2nd round, the seats are distributed in the same way as described above (majoritarian bonus to the list that came in 1st then proportional distribution of the remaining seats). The reform impacts the results of the 2026 municipal elections: a concrete effect, there will be as many women as men in the municipal councils in all communes.
Once the final results of the municipal elections are known and all these municipal councilors are elected, they will have one thing left to do: elect the mayor among themselves. In most cases, the head of the list will obviously be the mayor that his “colleagues” will elect.
Some arrangements for communes of less than 1,000 inhabitants
The 2026 municipal elections will thus be a first in France with a standardized voting system throughout the territory. If the election of municipal councilors in towns of less than 1,000 inhabitants is now identical to that of communes of more than 1,000 inhabitants, there are some arrangements, given the difficulties in composing paritarian lists.
- lists are considered complete even if they have two fewer candidates than the theoretical number of council seats
- the municipal council is deemed complete if it has at least 5 elected officials in communes of less than 100 inhabitants, 9 in those of 100 to 499 inhabitants and 13 councilors in those of 500 to 999 inhabitants
- To avoid “ballot splitting,” ballots containing a change in the order of candidates or a handwritten mention are now considered null
New rules for Paris, Marseille and Lyon during the 2026 municipal elections
In Paris, Lyon and Marseille, the municipal elections remain very specific, but the law has also changed in 2025 to allow the election of Paris and Lyon and Marseille councilors by direct universal suffrage. For these 2026 municipal elections, there are now two distinct and simultaneous polls in Paris, Lyon and Marseille: one to elect arrondissement or sector councilors, the other to elect municipal councilors.
the new law lowers the majoritarian bonus for the list that came in first in the first or second round to 25% (compared to 50% in other communes). From now on, metropolitan councilors of Paris and Marseille are also elected under the same conditions as communes of 1,000 inhabitants and more, on the same list as candidates for the municipal council. Exception: a third ballot is organized in Lyon to elect the councilors of the metropolis. For Paris and Marseille, the community councilors are elected on the basis of the lists submitted for the election of municipal councilors.
What results for the political parties in the 2026 municipal elections?
The results of each political party in the 2026 municipal elections have also been the subject of surveys on partisan preferences. An Odoxa-Backbone poll for Le Figaro showed during the campaign that the French are not really in favor of alliances between political parties for these elections. Only 39% want a union of the left – without LFI – and 29% want a union of all left-wing parties (a majority of left-wing voters, except among Socialist voters – are in favor of an alliance of all parties).
38% of the French would like an alliance between LR and the parties of the presidential camp and 36% would like an alliance between LR and the RN. In detail, we observe that 62% of LR sympathizers are in favor of an alliance with the RN and 63% with the presidential camp.
The Odoxa poll for Public Sénat and the regional press, published a few weeks ago, also provides very important lessons in view of the results of the second round of these 2026 municipal elections. The institute measured to what extent the French would be willing to vote for a candidate they “do not support” to prevent the victory of another political camp. We note that 59% of voters may vote in the second round “to prevent the victory of LFI”, 44% “to prevent the victory of the RN”, 46% “to prevent the victory of the presidential camp”.
