Tuesday, Jul. 11, 2023
Are France’s elections conducted using only paper ballots?
While most municipalities in France use paper ballots, not all do.
Voting by machine is allowed on an experimental basis in France. As of last year, 60 out of 35,000 municipalities held elections via machine.
Former President Donald Trump suggested in a Las Vegas rally on Saturday that the U.S. should adopt an electoral system like France, which he said was conducted using “all paper ballots with voter ID.”
While not fully true, France generally operates elections the way Trump wants. Mail-in voting has been illegal since 1975, photo identification is required and there is no absentee or early voting allowed.
This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.
Sources
- AP News EXPLAINER: How France’s old-school voting system works
- DocumentCloud Trump Comments
About fact briefs
Fact briefs are bite-sized, well-sourced explanations that offer clear "yes" or "no" answers to questions, confusions, and unsupported claims circulating online. They rely on publicly available data and documents, often from the original source. Fact briefs are written and published by Gigafact contributor publications.
See all fact briefs
The Nevada Independent is a nonpartisan, nonprofit news and opinion website founded in 2017 by veteran political journalist and commentator Jon Ralston. The site and its supporting channels are focused on ethical, unbiased and transparent journalism. In general, we aim to gather and disseminate important public information and increase civic engagement. We are supported by corporate donations, memberships, event ticket sales and sponsorships and foundation grants. We disclose all our members and donors. Donors have no influence over our content, ever. The Nevada Independent is the dba for Nevada News Bureau, Inc., a 501(c)3 nonprofit founded in 2010 by Elizabeth Thompson, who now serves as one of The Nevada Independent's managing directors and its Editor.
Learn MoreLatest Fact Briefs
Does preschool increase the likelihood that a child will attend college?
Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2025
Was a large percentage of votes received after Election Day in Nevada in 2024?
Monday, Feb. 3, 2025
Did Nevada lag most of the nation in job growth in 2024?
Monday, Jan. 27, 2025