In France, More Than Half Of The Senate's Members Are Elected

• 27.09.2026, 13:13

This vote is important for Marine Le Pen's far-right "National Rally."

On Sunday, Senate elections are being held in half of France's departments, during which 178 of the 348 senators will be elected to the upper house of parliament.

This is reported by BFMTV.

Polling stations opened at 8:30 a.m. Paris time. Senate elections are indirect: senators are not elected by the people in a nationwide vote, but by a Electoral College consisting of more than 93,000 people, primarily municipal council members.

In Sunday’s election, 178 of the 348 senators will be elected for the next six years.

Voting is taking place in 58 departments of mainland France, as well as in two departments of Corsica, French Guiana, and four overseas territories. Six representatives of French citizens living abroad will also be up for re-election.

The upper house is currently dominated by conservatives, with “Les Républicains” being the largest faction, holding 131 seats. President Emmanuel Macron’s “Renaissance” holds 19 seats.
No significant shifts in the balance of power are expected in the election, but a change in the balance of power within the right-wing majority is considered likely, with “The Republicans” potentially losing several seats.

This vote is important for the far-right “National Rally” led by Marine Le Pen, which could win enough seats to form a parliamentary caucus in the Senate for the first time. To do so, it needs ten seats, but the far-right party currently holds only three.

The French Senate elections are the last ones before the presidential election in the spring of 2027.