A snub for the majority. Sonia Backès, the Secretary of State for Citizenship, candidate for the senatorial elections in New Caledonia, was beaten in the second round by the independentist Robert Xowie, according to the results provided by the High Commission of the Republic in New Caledonia. Third in the first round in which the dissident candidate Les Républicains Georges Naturel was elected, Sonia Backès (Renaissance) did not manage to attract many electors in the second round, losing to the candidate of the Kanak Liberation Front ( FLNKS), which is entering the Senate – a first for a separatist, notes La 1ère Nouvelle-Calédonie. Follow our live stream.
Instructions for elections. Not less than 170 seats, or a little less than half of the Senate, will be renewed for six years at the end of this rather special electoral day, which is decided by indirect universal suffrage. In total, more than 1,800 candidates presented themselves.
>> Senatorial elections: the article to read to understand the vote
THE “electors” called to the polls. Not all French people registered on the electoral lists can vote in the senatorial elections, but only 78,000 of the 162,000 “major voters” who are the deputies, senators, regional, departmental and especially municipal councilors, who represent the overwhelming majority of the electorate.
A total of 45 constituencies affected. The departments where the 170 seats at stake in these senatorial elections are located range from 37 (Indre-et-Loire) to 66 (Pyrénées-Orientales), to which are added the eight departments of Ile-de-France, six territories of overseas and six seats for senators of French people abroad.
A different voting method depending on the departments. The method of election varies depending on the number of elected officials sent by a department to the Senate. Between one and two, the result of the first round will be known at the end of the morning, before a possible second round in the afternoon. In departments where three or more senators must be elected, a single-round proportional list vote applies, with results known at the end of the day.