Misplaced Pages

1st French legislative constituency for citizens abroad
Constituency of the National Assembly of France
Deputy	Roland Lescure RE
Department	None (citizens abroad)
Cantons	None
Registered voters	265,898 (2024)
Politics of France Political parties Elections Previous Next

The first French legislative constituency for citizens abroad (French: Première circonscription des Français établis hors de France) is one of eleven constituencies representing French people living outside France. It was created by the 2010 redistricting of French legislative constituencies and elects, since 2012, one representative to the National Assembly.

It represents all French citizens living in Canada and the United States. It is the most populous constituency of its kind, containing 265,898 registered French voters as of 2024.

Area represented

The first constituency for citizens abroad encompasses the following countries and French consular constituencies:

•  Canada (79,328 French registered)
  • 1st voting constituency: consular constituencies of Ottawa, Toronto, and Vancouver.
  • 2nd voting constituency: consular constituencies of Moncton, Halifax, Montréal, and Québec.
•  United States (122,686 French registered)
  • 1st voting constituency: consular constituencies of Atlanta, Boston, Miami, New York City, and Washington, D.C.
  • 2nd voting constituency: consular constituencies of Chicago.
  • 3rd voting constituency: consular constituencies of Houston and New Orleans.
  • 4th voting constituency: consular constituencies of Los Angeles and San Francisco.

Deputy

National Assembly elections

2024

2022

2017

2013 by-election

Following the invalidation of the 2012 election, a by-election was held on May 25 and June 8, 2013.

Candidates

The list of candidates was officially released on May 6, 2013, with twelve candidates:

The Socialist Party was represented by Franck Scemama who lived in France. His deputy was Annie Michel.

The Union for a Popular Movement was represented once again by Frédéric Lefebvre. His deputy was Olivier Piton.

Europe Ecology – The Greens was represented by Cyrille Giraud who had been deputy to Narassiguin in the previous election. His deputy was Emmanuelle Garcia-Guillen.

The Left Front was represented once again by Céline Clément. Her deputy was Jean-Baptiste Plouhinec.

The Democratic Movement was represented by Nicolas Druet who lived in Montreal. His deputy was Martine Volard.

The Union of Democrats and Independents was represented by Louis Giscard d'Estaing who lived in Chamalières, France. His deputy was Séverine Boitier.

The Rally of French Citizens Abroad (Rassemblement des Français de l’étranger) was represented by Damien Regnard who lived in New Orleans. His deputy was Virginie Beaudet.

The National Front was represented by Thierry Franck Fautre who lived in Florida. His deputy was Sylvie Verez.

The Pirate Party was represented by Véronique Vermorel who lived in Boston. Her deputy was Mathieu Chambefort.

Solidarity and Progress was represented once again by Karel Vereycken.

Nicolas Rousseaux was an independent candidate who lived in France. His deputy was Raphaël Rousseaux.

Pauline Czartoryska was an independent candidate who lived in France and previously worked in Maryland. Her deputy was Emmanuèle Pillard.

Results

2012

Candidates

The list of candidates was officially finalised on 14 May. There were eighteen candidates:

The Union for a Popular Movement chose Finance Minister Christine Lagarde (who had never been a member of Parliament) as its candidate in April 2011. Lagarde, however, subsequently became Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund, and in November the party chose Frédéric Lefebvre, secretary of state for commerce, to replace her as candidate.

The Socialist Party chose Corinne Narassiguin, a resident of New York City. Her deputy (suppléant) was originally Yves Alavo, a resident of Montreal. Europe Écologie–The Greens had chosen Rémi Piet, with Sabrina Feddal as his deputy (suppléante). Piet, a resident of Miami, teaches international relations at the University of Miami. In January 2012, Europe Écologie–The Greens and the Socialist Party merged their efforts to create a new ticket featuring Corinne Narassiguin (Socialist) and Cyrille Giraud (EELV), a resident of Montreal.

The Democratic Movement chose Carole Granade. A resident of San Francisco, she was a former director of the city's French American Chamber of Commerce.

The Left Front, which includes the French Communist Party, chose Céline Clément, a senior lecturer in psychology at the University of Strasbourg. She had several years' experience working in Quebec, and a Canadian partner. Her deputy (suppléant) was Thomas Collombat, a professor of Quebec Studies at Western Washington University.

The National Front chose Claire Savreux.

The centre-right Radical Party and the centrist Republican, Ecologist and Social Alliance jointly chose Philippe Manteau as their candidate. He was also endorsed by the Liberal Democratic Party. Aurélia Palvel-Marmont was his deputy (suppléante).

The centre-left Radical Party of the Left chose Stéphanie Bowring, a long-term resident of Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon, and a dual citizen of France and Canada. Jean Lachaud was her deputy (suppléant).

The Pirate Party chose Raphaël Clayette, with Olivier Henebelle as his deputy (suppléant).

Solidarity and Progress, the French branch of the LaRouche movement, was represented by Karel Vereycken, with Dominique Revault-D'Allonnes as his deputy. Vereycken described himself as a friend of Jacques Cheminade and Lyndon LaRouche.

Julien Balkany, a resident of New York City and a member of the Union for a Popular Movement, stood as a dissident candidate, having failed to obtain the party's endorsement. François Lubrina was his deputy (suppléant).

Gérard Michon, a resident of the United States for 31 years who was serving his fourth mandate at the Assembly of French Citizens Abroad, for the constituency including San Francisco, stood as an independent candidate. Despite being a member of the Union for a Popular Movement, he too stood against the party's endorsed candidate. Marc Cormier was his deputy (suppléant).

Antoine Treuille, a businessman, president of the French-American Foundation, and long-term resident of the United States, stood as an independent right-wing candidate. If elected, he said he would sit with the Union for a Popular Movement.

Christophe Navel was an independent candidate, presenting himself as neither left nor right. Matthieu Deborde was his deputy (suppléant).

Mike Remondeau was an independent candidate. A 31-year-old resident of Tampa, Florida, he was studying for a master's degree in political sciences. He called his political movement the "Circle of North Americans" (Cercle des Nord-Américains), and stood on a platform of "ideological laïcité", and a common cultural identity for French residents in North America. Christian Routier was his deputy.

Emile Servan-Schreiber, with Christian Déséglise as his deputy, was an "independent centre-right" candidate.

The other independent candidates were: Louis Le Guyader (with Claire Le Guyader as his deputy); Jean-Michel Vernochet (with Lieu Nguyen as his deputy); and Rob Temene (with Betty Millet as his deputy).

Campaign

Due in part to the sheer size of the constituency, certain candidates barely campaigned at all, while others "made every effort to travel around" the United States and Canada and "mobilise their scattered voters". Los Angeles, with a sizable French expatriate population, was a focal point for some. Among issues of concern to voters were education (access to French schools for their children) and retirement pensions.

On 23 May, France 24 organised a televised debate in New York City for the eight candidates it deemed "active" in terms of their campaign : Corinne Narassiguin (Socialist), Frédéric Lefebvre (UMP) Carole Granade (MoDem), Philippe Manteau (ARES), Julien Balkany (dissident UMP), Gérard Michon (dissident UMP), Antoine Treuille (misc. right), and Emile Servan-Schreiber (misc. right). Seven of the invited candidates took part; Lefebvre indicated he did not wish to.

Results

Turnout in the first round was low: 22.5% in Canada and 18.9% in the United States. With the mainstream right strongly divided (four dissident candidates standing against the UMP-endorsed candidate), Socialist Corinne Narassiguin obtained a comfortable lead in the first round, in both countries of the constituency.

In the second round, Narassiguin won by a comfortable margin, in what was described as an "incredible" win for the left. The constituency had been deemed a safe seat for the right. Commentators in Libération pointed to Narassiguin's strong and active campaign, and suggested that rightwing voters had rejected UMP candidate Frédéric Lefebvre, who spoke little English and was perceived as knowing little about North America.

Subsequent invalidation

In February 2013, the election of Corinne Narassiguin was annulled by the Constitutional Council, due to irregularities in the funding of her electoral campaigns. She was barred from standing for public office for a period of one year. Defeated candidates Antoine Treuille and Emile Servan-Schreiber were also barred from standing for public office for a year, for the same reason.

Presidential elections

2017

2012

2007

Assembly of French citizens abroad

The first constituency for French residents abroad encompasses six voting constituencies for the assembly of French citizens abroad.

• Canada
  • 1st voting constituency: consular constituencies of Ottawa, Toronto and Vancouver.
  • 2nd voting constituency: consular constituencies of Moncton, Halifax, Montréal and Québec.
•  United States
  • 1st voting constituency: consular constituencies of Atlanta, Boston, Miami, New York City and Washington.
  • 2nd voting constituency: consular constituencies of Chicago.
  • 3rd voting constituency: consular constituencies of Houston and La Nouvelle-Orléans.
  • 4th voting constituency: consular constituencies of Los Angeles and San Francisco.

2009 election

Canadian protest

In September 2011, the Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs stated that it would not accept the inclusion of Canada into an electoral constituency of any foreign state. It explained that it was concerned an elected representative of French residents to the French National Assembly might be perceived as a representative of Canada, thus undermining the perception of Canadian sovereignty. In practice, however, officials admitted they could not prevent French residents from voting. (Canada also stated it could not accept its inclusion in similar overseas constituencies established by Tunisia and Italy, stating that Tunisians in Canada would be forbidden from electing a representative, and demanding that Italy abolish its overseas constituency which includes Canada.)

The French Foreign Affairs Ministry stated in January 2012 that French residents in Canada would indeed be able to elect a representative for the French communities of North America, even as the Canadian Foreign Affairs Ministry reiterated that this was not acceptable. Le Monde wrote that there would probably be a "de facto compromise", whereby Canada would tacitly recognise the diplomatic inviolability of French consulates where the voting would take place. This was what had happened for the election of a Tunisian constituent assembly in October 2011, where Canada had objected to the existence of "international districts" for the Tunisian legislature, but had done nothing in practice to prevent Tunisians residents in Canada from electing a representative.

References

1. "1ere circonscription (ZZ01) - Elections Législatives 2024 - Publication des résultats des élections en France". www.resultats-elections.interieur.gouv.fr. Retrieved 2024-07-09.
2. "Les élections en 2012 à l’étranger: Votre circonscription pour l’élection des députés" Archived July 6, 2011, at the Wayback Machine, French Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs
3. "Résultats des élections législatives 2022 Français de l'étranger". Le Monde.fr (in French). Retrieved 2022-06-28.
4. "Décret n° 2013-307 du 12 avril 2013 portant convocation des électeurs pour l'élection de deux députés à l'Assemblée nationale (1re et 8e circonscriptions des Français établis hors de France)". Legifrance. Retrieved 2018-05-18.
5. "Arrêté du 6 mai 2013 fixant la liste des candidats au premier tour de l'élection des députés élus par les Français établis hors de France (1re et 8e circonscriptions)". Legifrance. Retrieved 2018-05-18.
6. "The Right Forklifts -". www.franckscemama.com. Retrieved 18 May 2018.
7. "Frédéric LEFEBVRE | Election législative 2013Frédéric LEFEBVRE | Election législative 2013 - Candidat de l'union de la droite et du centre-UMP à l'élection législative - 1ère circonscription des Français établis hors de France - Amérique du Nord". Archived from the original on 2013-04-29. Retrieved 2013-05-08.
8. "Accueil | Cyrille Giraud | Élections législatives des dimanches 26 mai et 9 juin 2013". Archived from the original on 2013-04-27. Retrieved 2013-05-08.
9. "Nicolas Druet 2013 - le candidat du Centre". Archived from the original on 2013-05-08. Retrieved 2013-05-08.
10. "Louis Giscard d'Estaing pour la 1ère circonscritpion des français établis hors de France (USA & Canada) | Législatives partielles pour la 1ère circonscritpion des français établis hors de France (USA & Canada)". Archived from the original on 2013-05-22. Retrieved 2013-05-08.
11. "Élection législatives partielles des francais d'Amérique du Nord - damien regnard 2013". Archived from the original on 2013-05-05. Retrieved 2013-05-08.
12. "Véronique Vermorel : Candidate aux législatives 2013". Archived from the original on 2013-05-04. Retrieved 2013-05-08.
13. "Force Républicaine" (in French). Archived from the original on October 30, 2013.
14. "Pauline Czartoryska". 5 May 2013. Retrieved 18 May 2018.
15. "Circonscription 1 - résultats globaux" (PDF) (in French). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-06-16. Retrieved 2013-06-19.
16. "Elections législatives partielles 2013 : Résultats pour le 1er tour (27.05.13) - France-Diplomatie-Ministère des Affaires étrangères". Archived from the original on 2013-06-10. Retrieved 2013-05-28.
17. "Arrêté du 14 mai 2012 fixant la liste des candidats au premier tour de l'élection des députés élus par les Français établis hors de France ", Journal Officiel de la République Française, 15 May 2012
18. ^ Candidates for the 1st constituency Archived 2012-01-21 at the Wayback Machine, Le Petit Journal, updated on 13 January 2012
19. "Législatives : l'UMP a désigné ses candidats pour l'étranger", Le Figaro, April 13, 2011
20. "Amérique du Nord : l'UMP désigne Lefebvre" Archived 2016-05-27 at the Wayback Machine, Le Journal du dimanche, 25 November 2011
21. "Elections législatives 2012 : nos candidates et candidats" Archived June 8, 2011, at the Wayback Machine, Parti Socialiste - Fédération des Français à l'Etranger
22. "Motion 13: Législatives 2012: Hors de France", Europe Écologie–The Greens
23. "Les 11 candidat-e-s EELV sur les circonscriptions législatives hors de France" Archived January 14, 2012, at the Wayback Machine 12 November 2011
24. About Cyrille Giraud, on the official website of Corinne Narassiguin
25. "Présentation de Carole Granade", Le Petit Journal
26. "Présentation de Céline Clément", Le Petit Journal
27. Véron, Aurélien (20 May 2012). "Candidats soutenus par le Parti Libéral Démocrate aux législatives 2012" (in French). Liberal Democratic Party. Archived from the original on 24 May 2012. Retrieved 7 June 2012.
28. "Présentation de Stéphanie Bowring", Le Petit Journal
29. "Présentation de Karel Vereycken", Le Petit Journal
30. "Balkany l'Américain, ou la guerre du 92 exportée aux USA", Libération, 8 December 2011
31. "Gerard Michon: Député 2.0", Le Canard US, 18 January 2012
32. "L'UMP choisira son candidat à la députation pour l'Amérique du Nord mi-novembre", France-Amérique, 14 October 2011
33. "Présentation de Antoine Treuille", Le Petit Journal
34. ^ "À New York, des candidats à la députation débattent", France 24, 24 May 2012
35. "Présentation de Christophe Navel", Le Petit Journal
36. "Présentation de Mike Remondeau", Le Petit Journal
37. "En Amérique du Nord, l'UMP Frédéric Lefebvre fait figure de "parachuté" à droite", Le Monde, 26 May 2012
38. "Des candidats à la conquête de l’Amérique", Libération, 1 June 2012
39. ^ Official results of the first round Archived 2012-06-11 at the Wayback Machine, French Ministry for Foreign Affairs
40. "Législatives : tous les résultats des Français de l'étranger", Le Nouvel Observateur, 4 June 2012
41. "La vague socialiste emporte même l'Amérique!" Archived 2012-06-19 at the Wayback Machine, Libération, 17 June 2012
42. "Résultats du 2nd tour - 17 juin 2012 dans la 1ère circonscription - Amérique du Nord", Le Monde
43. "Le Conseil constitutionnel annule l'élection de deux députées PS des Français de l'étranger", Le Monde, 15 February 2013
44. Foreign Elections in Canada and Foreign Electoral Constituencies, Circular Note No. XDC-1264 of September 8, 2011
45. "Le vote étranger, l'exception canadienne", La Presse, 6 October 2011
46. "Les Français du Canada pourront voter aux législatives, assure le Quai d'Orsay", Le Monde, 4 January 2011

• Constituencies for French residents overseas