Presidential Elections in France : François Hollande

Here is a video with François Hollande visiting the suburbs, specifically the area where I live. It seems like Hollande has really made a mark on the foreigners and immigrants. He is all about change, something that sounds like Obama. His logo is "Changement, C'est maintenant","Change is now"

Presidential Elections in France

The French Republic will hold a presidential election on April 22, 2012, and (if necessary) a runoff election on May 6, 2012. We are nine days away !

The president of France is directly elected by universal suffrage in two stages of voting. All parties take part in the first round, usually promoting their own candidates. However, presidential hopefuls are required to present 500 endorsements signed by elected officials in order to secure a place on the ballot. If no candidate obtains an absolute majority of all valid votes cast in the first round, then the top two candidates qualify for a runoff election, in which the candidate with the largest number of votes is elected to office for a term of five years. For more information, refer to this website

This year there are 10 candidates.

The Favorites

• François Hollande (Parti Socialiste)
• Nicolas Sarkozy (Union pour un Mouvement Populaire)

The Other Candidates

• Nathalie Arthaud (Lutte Ouvrière)
• Philippe Poutou (Nouveau Parti Anticapitaliste)
• Jean-Luc Mélenchon (Front de Gauche)
• Eva Joly (Europe Ecologie Les Verts)
• François Bayrou (MoDem)
• Jacques Cheminade (Solidarité et Progrès)
• Nicolas Dupont-Aignan (Debout la République)
• Marine Le Pen (Front National) - very much against foreigners and immigration !

Those Eliminated

These two didn't get the 500 required signatures :

• Dominique de Villepin (République solidaire)
• Corinne Lepage (Cap21)