Presidential election 2022: publication of the list of candidates and strengthening of fairness in speaking time
The French regulatory authority for audiovisual and digital communication, Arcom, is responsible for ensuring that radio and television stations abide by the provisions of the French law of September 30, 1986, in particular those relating to political plurality. In order to take account of the specific nature of each election, Arcom adopts a special resolution that supplements the rules previously laid down. For the 2022 presidential election, the rules are set out in the notice of October 6, 2021.
The rules laid down by Arcom introduce three periods for television and radio stations to record and transmit speaking and airtime.
First period
The first period runs from January 1, 2022 to March 7, the day before the list of candidates drawn up by the Constitutional Council is published.
During this period, broadcasters must ensure that candidates and their supporters have equal speaking and airtime.
Second period
A second period running from March 8, the day of publication in the Official Journal of the list of candidates drawn up by the Constitutional Council, to the day before the start of the election campaign.
Equal speaking and airtime for candidates and their supporters must be respected under comparable programming conditions.
The election campaign period
The actual campaign period for the two rounds of voting, as defined in article L. 47 A of the French Electoral Code.
Television and radio services must respect the equality of speaking time and airtime under comparable programming conditions.
The principle of fairness
The principle of fairness implies that television and radio stations should allocate speaking or airtime to candidates and their supporters, taking into account their representativeness and actual involvement in the campaign. Thus, the notion of fairness is assessed on the basis of two sets of criteria:
- the representativeness of the candidates , taking into account, in particular, the results of the candidate or political party in the most recent elections.
- their ability to demonstrate their involvement in the campaign in concrete terms: organization of public meetings, participation in debates, appointment of a financial agent and, more generally, any initiative enabling the public to be made aware of the elements of the candidate's program.
Recording of speaking times and airtime
Access statements of speaking times and airtime for the 2022 presidential election period.
Publication of the official list of candidates
The Constitutional Council has drawn up the official list of candidates for the election to the presidency of the Republic on April 10 and 24. Unveiled on Monday March 7 (publication in the Journal Officiel on Tuesday March 8), the list of candidates is available on the Constitutional Council website.
- 65 names have been put forward as candidates.
- 13,427 forms for the presentation of candidates by authorized elected representatives (or "parrainages") have been validated.
- 12 candidates are officially in the running for the 2022 presidential election (11 in 2017).
Sponsorship publications and official list of candidates
The Constitutional Council oversees "the regularity of the election of the President of the Republic. It examines complaints and proclaims the results of the election".
On the same subject
Publication of airtime and speaking time records
Presidential election 2022: how Arcom is strengthening campaign accessibility
Presidential election 2022 : Arcom's role
