European elections - Q&A - Excerpts from the daily press briefing (22.05.19)
Q : French voters living in other countries might have trouble voting in Sunday’s European elections. It seems there’s no possibility of voting for a French list. What have you planned? And conversely, is there a risk of people voting twice?
A : French voters living abroad who want to vote for a French list in the European elections had until March 31 to register with their commune in France or at their nearest consulate abroad. These voters were also supposed to remove their names from the voter rolls in their country of residence by a deadline set by the country of residence.
Since December 2018, our consulates in EU countries have been asking voters to check and see which list they are on. A specific campaign was launched this past January to ask those who wish to vote for French lists to specify whether they wanted to maintain their registration on the consular list or to register in their commune in France.
When a French national is registered to vote for the list of another EU country, the authorities of that country notify the French authorities. On the day of the elections in France, the voter rolls containing the name of the person who registered in his or her European country of residence will bear the notation “voting abroad.”
Nobody can vote more than once in the same election, regardless of whether he or she has dual citizenship.
Voters who vote twice are subject to criminal prosecution and fines that can go up to €15,000.
Our consulates are at the disposal of our compatriots abroad to answer any questions they might have.