Local election rule changes in France and why you may have a new mayor in 2026

Voting rules for local elections are set to change in small French communes, beginning with municipal elections in 2026, while separately MPs are also debating changes in the larger cities of Paris, Lyon, and Marseille.

Parliament adopted the bill on Monday, April 7. It will apply the same voting rules to communes with fewer than 1,000 residents, as those used in larger towns and cities.

The new rules are set to apply from municipal elections in March 2026, and are intended to standardise rules between municipalities with fewer than 1,000 residents and those with more.

Changes are set to specify that: 

• Smaller communes must use a similar voting list system to larger communes. Voters in smaller communes will no longer follow a two-round plurality voting system, and no longer be able to modify voting lists with methods such as crossing names off the ballot.

• Lists must alternate the names of male candidates with those of female candidates, in a bid to improve parity in smaller communes.

• Very small communes where there are very few candidates will be able to consider their municipal council as “complete” even when it has two fewer seats filled than the number normally required by law.

Non-EU residents do not have voting rights in municipal elections.

The government collects and publishes details of commune resident numbers, defining them as “those who have their usual place of residence in the municipality, in a housing unit or a community”.

Mayor changes? 

Many communes may see their mayor change in 2026, depending on whether the existing incumbent chooses to re-run.

A recent study of 5,000 elected officials nationwide, conducted by Sciences Po and associations of elected officials, showed that:

• 42% of outgoing mayors have already decided that they will stand as candidates in the next elections

• 28% have decided not to run again 

• 30% have not yet made their decision

However, the poll also noted that 70% of mayors of towns with more than 9,000 inhabitants will stand again.

This gap “reveals unequal resources, administrative burdens experienced as overwhelming, but also a more burdensome isolation in small municipalities”, the study found. It also said that some mayors were choosing not to run again due to their advanced age.

‘Desire to serve’ despite difficulties

One of the authors of the study - Martial Foucault, professor at Sciences Po - told AFP that there is “still a desire to serve [and] be useful”, despite difficulties faced by mayors, particularly in small towns. 

In the poll, 61% of mayors said they had experienced “incivility” (although this figure has dropped eight percentage points compared to 2023), while physical aggression incidents remained stable at 7%. A quarter (25%) had experienced attacks on social media.

When the study was presented, Minister of Regional Planning François Rebsamen said that it was important to encourage “young people to get involved”.

Larger cities vote

The changes for small communes come amid a new vote in the Assemblée Nationale concerning mayor voting practices in Paris, Lyon and Marseille.

The bill is set to reform what proposing MP Sylvain Maillard calls a “failing voting system” that only works for “those with vested interests”. 

The aim is to ensure that “one vote equals one vote”. Currently, this is not quite the case; since 1982, voters in each of the three cities vote by district or sector, and not on a city-wide basis. 

The elected municipal councillors then vote to elect the overall mayor of their municipality. This means that the winner may not necessarily be the one who received the largest number of resident votes.

Proposals to change the system have been controversial, and sparked debate across party lines. A vote is expected in Parliament imminently.