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MAPS: How France voted in the second round of the Presidential elections

Despite Emmanuel Macron’s victory, fractures in France’s political landscape, based on geography, income, and age played out in the second round of the French election, which can be seen in maps and graphics of the latest French voting trends.

Published: 25 April 2022 15:14 CEST
MAPS: How France voted in the second round of the Presidential elections
Election officials count votes at a polling station in Marignana, Corsica. (Photo by Pascal POCHARD-CASABIANCA / AFP)

Emmanuel Macron beat Marine Le Pen in the second round of the French Presidential election with 58.55 percent of the vote, a smaller share than his 2017 victory where he secured 66.1 percent of the vote. Though Macron won, the election highlighted growing ideological differences in France. Recognising these fractures, Macron promised that he is “no longer the candidate of a camp, but the president of all.” 

To see the vote breakdown by département, VisActu created a map, based on a département level breakdown showing the areas that voted for Le Pen (in blue) and Macron (yellow). Inset is the first-round voting map, which adds areas won by the far-left candidate Jean-Luc Mélenchon in red.

The Interior Ministry has created an interactive version of the map where you can search for the vote in your local area – click HERE to access it. 

Over the last five years there has also been a geographical shift in voting,  with the below map from Franceinfo showing the decline in support for Macron in Brittany.

This election also showed another geographical trend: the east-west divide, which was also apparent in 2017. This is particularly visible in a map produced by Le Parisien:

The divide between the east and west is really a combination of different factors, including the ‘rust belt’ in the north-east of the country, which voted primarily Le Pen in both the first and second rounds of the election. Home to the country’s former industrial and coal-mining areas, it has in recent years seen high levels of unemployment. 

READ ALSO: MAP: How geography affects how French people vote

But it’s not just geography that influences how people vote – age is another big factor.

French daily Le Parisien created this graphic to show generational divides. The youngest and the oldest voter groups (ages 18-24 and over-70s, respectively) strongly prefer Emmanuel Macron, whereas those aged 50-59 narrowly prefer Le Pen.

In the same graphic, Le Parisien also showed how income and education level was reflected in voting patterns, with Marine Le Pen attracting more working class voters than Emmanuel Macron.  

France also saw the highest level of abstention in 50 years, with over 28 percent of people abstaining from voting.

To hear more about the results of the election and the issues that mattered most to voters, listen to The Local’s Talking France podcast, which concluded its election coverage last night.

Member comments

  1. Thanks for the breakdown of how the French voted. After just arriving in Europe, and planning on spending several months in France, we will avoid Le Pen supported areas like the plague. We prefer to spend our money supporting people who aren’t insane. Unfortunately, that means no longer consuming my preferred Bordeaux wines.

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EMMANUEL MACRON

Macron says ‘all European nationalists are hidden Brexiteers’

French President Emmanuel Macron said all European nationalists were "hidden Brexiteers" in an interview with the Economist published on Thursday, warning voters ahead of European elections next month.

Published: 2 May 2024 15:40 CEST
Macron says 'all European nationalists are hidden Brexiteers'

“I say to Europeans: Wake up. Wake up! They are hidden Brexiteers. All European nationalists are hidden Brexiteers. It’s all the same lies,” he said.

“Make no mistake. If you entrust the keys to people who think like they do, there is no reason why Europe should become a great power,” he said.

“In a way it’s as if we were saying it’s not a problem if we entrust the bank to robbers. When they are around the table, they take Europe hostage.”

Macron gave the example of the French far-right Rassemblement National (RN) party, which is now leading in opinion polls for the European contest, ahead of his own centrist alliance.

The RN “wanted to pull out of Europe, out of the euro, out of everything,” he said.

“Now it no longer says anything. It’s reaping the benefits of Europe, while wanting to destroy it without saying anything.

“And that’s true in every country,” he added.

He noted that Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, whose Brothers of Italy party has neo-fascist roots, had “a European approach” and had “supported the asylum and immigration pact”.

But “after that, the best way of building together is to have as few nationalists as possible”, he added.

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