Just because you are in prison does not mean that you lose your right to vote.
Persons arrested on remand and convicted prisoners normally maintain their civic rights whilst being in prison, but there are certain exceptions and conditions.
Can your right to vote be taken away from you?
The 1994 reform of the French Criminal Code put an end to the automatic deprivation of civic rights in the event of a prison sentence of more than three months. It was replaced by an additional sentence that may be pronounced by the judge. Therefore, you are allowed to vote whilst in prison unless you have been sentenced to a ban on your civic rights. According to French law, a ban on your civic rights (including the right to vote) cannot last for more than 10 years if you committed a felony, or 5 years if you committed an offence.
Under what conditions can you exercise your right to vote?
There are several conditions that you should fulfil in order to be allowed to vote.
- You must not be banned of your civic rights
- You must be of French nationality
- You must be at least 18 years old
- You must be registered to vote
exception If you are not French but you are a citizen of a European Union country, you can vote in France in the local and European elections. To do this, you must apply to be registered on the French electoral roll.
How can you register to vote?
In France, registration on the electoral roll is automatic for French citizens reaching the age of majority (18 years old) and for adult citizens who obtain French nationality. This applies in prison as well. This means that if you are a French adult citizen, you are probably already registered to vote. If you are not already registered, or if you wish to change the electoral roll in which you are registered, you should ask the head of the prison.
You will normally be registered to vote in the municipality of your last residence, if it was your residence for at least six months. According to the law, if you do not have a personal residence, you can choose the prison as your residence. You should keep in mind that if you register on an electoral roll that is different from that of the prison, you will not be able to vote by post (see below for more information on the different ways you can vote).
How can you vote?
There are three different ways you can vote:
This type of vote means that you will not vote in a polling station but in prison instead, by putting your ballot paper in an envelope that will be sent by post to the polling station. This type of vote takes place before the day of the election. You will have to prove your identity before voting. Your vote should be confidential and personal.
As mentioned previously, if you wish to vote by post, you must be registered on the electoral roll of the city in which the prison is located.
If you are unable to vote in person, you can ask someone to vote on your behalf, this is called voting by proxy. According to French law, anyone, including prisoners, can vote by proxy and there is no specific reason required.
example You can ask to vote by proxy if the prison refuses to give you permission to go out of the prison to vote at the polling station.
In order to vote by proxy, you should contact the prison registry to receive the form provided for this. You will have to complete the form and indicate who will act as your proxy. This person must be registered to vote but she/he does not have to be registered in the same city as you. This person will have to go to your polling station to vote for you.
If you wish to vote by going to the polling station, you should request from the judge a one-day leave to go out of the prison.
According to French law, you will be allowed to leave the prison if you are sentenced to maximum 5 years of prison, or if you are sentenced to more than 5 years but you have already served half of your sentence. However, in practice, such authorisation is not always granted.
exception You are not allowed to vote in person if you are in pre-trial detention.
Right to vote
If you have been prohibited from voting by the prison administration, for example as a disciplinary sanction, this is a violation of your right to vote because a disciplinary sanction cannot deprive you of your right to vote. However, if you have been banned from voting by the judge as part of your sentence, then there will be no violation of your right to vote, as long as this type of sentence is applied only to specific and serious offences and not a general sentence applied to all prisoners.
example There will be a violation of your right to vote if you have been refused to exercise your right just because you are registered to vote in a different city than the one in which the prison is located.
If you believe that your rights have been violated, you should complain to the prison administration. Read more about how to complain.