In among the fevered speculation about France’s snap legislative elections – in which the far-right Rassemblement National is currently leading the polls – you may have heard talk of les ni-nis.

In French the word ni means neither or nor, and it is used regularly in everyday conversation – Je n’aime ni la bière ni le vin (I like neither beer, nor wine).

In a political context, it means rejection of both of the main or poll-leading parties, and it is important because of France’s two-round voting system.

Snap elections

In the current snap parliamentary elections – with polling days on June 30th and July 7th – the two groups leading the polls are Marine Le Pen’s far-right Rassemblement National party and the Nouveau Front Populaire, an alliance of the four main parties of the left (the hard-left La France Insoumise, the centre-left Parti Socialiste, the Greens and the Communists).

Although the left alliance consists of four parties, it is dominated by the biggest – La France Insoumise. The party’s hard-line economic positions and recent accusations of anti-Semitism have made them unpalatable to some voters, especially those in the centre or centre-left.

All of which means, that a significant chunk of voters are saying “Ni RN, ni NFP” – neither Rassemblement National, nor Nouveau Front Populaire.

Among those seem to be at least some in Emmanuel Macron’s centrist group, the president himself describes both groups as ‘les extremes‘.

Two rounds

It’s pretty common in elections around the world to find plenty of voters who don’t like either of the main parties on offer.

What makes ‘les ni-nis‘ more significant in France is the two-round voting system – voters head to the polls once and choose from any of the array of candidates standing in their seat. The highest scorers from round one then go through to a second round, and voters go back to the polls a week later and vote on the second-round candidates.

READ ALSO How does France’s two-round voting system work?

Current polling suggests that in a significant number of constituencies, the second round will come down to a run-off between candidates from Rassemblement National and the Nouveau Front Populaire.

At which point les ni-nis will have to decide whether they truly can’t vote for either of the candidates.

They have the choice of either abstaining, casting a vote blanc (blank ballot paper) or picking the candidate they dislike the least.

What they decide could well end up determining France’s next government.

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