The Constitutional Council validates a new voting system for the municipal elections in Paris, Lyon and Marseille, whose advisers of the central town halls will now be elected directly

The Constitutional Council validates a new voting system for the municipal elections in Paris. In addition, Lyon and Marseille, whose councilors of the central town halls will now be elected directly, in addition to representatives of districts and sectors.

The wise men noted that for these three municipalities. However, the most populous in France, the legislator was founded to want to “improve the representation of the various political sensitivities within (of their) deliberative assemblies”, “in accordance with the objective of constitutional value of pluralism of the currents of thoughts and opinions”.

“It follows that the new voting rules for Paris. Lyon and Marseille resulting from article 1 of the law will apply from the renewal organized in March 2026,” said the Council, in its decision. This leads to a double election system. and therefore two urns, one to elect the members constitutional council validates new voting of the Central Town Hall Council (Paris Council, Municipal Councils of Lyon and Marseille) – which then elect the mayor -, the other to elect those of the district (in Paris) or the sector (in Lyon and Marseille).

In Lyon. the reform leads to the organization of a triple ballot, since the citizens of the municipalities of the Metropolis of Lyon already vote directly for their metropolitan representatives, at the same time as for their municipal councilors. In particular seized on this point, the Constitutional Council considered that “the new rules established are not of particular complexity”.

Adopted in a context of decentralization in March 1982 on the initiative of the Minister of the Interior of the time. Gaston Defferre, the law had been applied for the first time in the municipal elections of 1983.