Second round the day after May Day: should the presidential election date really be changed?

The facts

Three days after the violence that marred the national day of mobilisation against the high cost of living on Saturday 17 October, the debate has shifted to electoral ground. Bruno Retailleau, president of Les Républicains and declared candidate in the presidential election, is asking the government to change the date of the second round, set for Sunday 2 May 2027, the day after May Day.

According to Public Sénat, he justified his request on BFMTV by arguing that the vote needs "calm and serenity". He added a more combative phrase:

If you wanted to wreck the second round, you couldn't go about it any differently — Bruno Retailleau

According to Journal du Net, the LR president has contested this calendar since it was announced at the beginning of the summer, and believes there is still time to change it. Still according to this outlet, the government had not responded to this new request on Tuesday.

The official calendar, published on the government's website, sets the first round for Sunday 18 April and the second round for Sunday 2 May 2027. Several overseas territories will vote the day before because of the time difference, that is, on Saturday 1 May for the second round.

The context weighs heavily. According to Public Sénat, the Minister for Trade mentions at least 3,000 shops damaged or looted on 17 October. The Interior Minister acknowledged a lack of anticipation, and local curfews were decided in several municipalities in the Nord department.

The positions at stake

Bruno Retailleau's argument deserves to be taken seriously. May Day is a day of trade union and political demonstrations. Holding a decisive vote the next day exposes the country to a double risk: unrest on the eve of the vote and a kind of campaign extended into the streets, whereas the law imposes electoral silence. Article L. 49 of the electoral code indeed prohibits all propaganda from midnight on the eve of the vote. As Maire-info pointed out back in July, several parties, especially on the right and the far right, had already voiced this concern.

The government's choice nevertheless has its reasons. The Constitution leaves little room. Its Article 7 requires the election to be held between twenty and thirty-five days before the end of the current term, and the second round to take place fourteen days after the first. According to Maire-info, the only possible alternative was 11 and 25 April, and the school calendar seems to have guided the decision: on 25 April, two zones would have been on holiday, compared with only one on 2 May. Bruno Retailleau himself acknowledges, according to Journal du Net, that most parties had advised against that other option.

From a legal standpoint, the specialists interviewed by Public Sénat differ on the procedure but not on the essentials. For constitutional scholar Benjamin Morel, the second round cannot be moved without moving the first, unless the Constitution is revised. For Pierre Esplugas-Labatut, since the dates are set by decree, a new decree could change them. In other words, changing the date would mean bringing the whole election forward by a week.

The analysis

The issue is legitimate, but it must be treated with the seriousness it demands. Touching the calendar of a presidential election is not a trivial act. Doing so in the heat of emotion, six months before the vote, would send a worrying message: that of a state adjusting its democratic appointments to pressure from the street. The Gaullist tradition has always held the opposite, making the regularity of institutions a bulwark against disorder.

There is also a risk of confusion. May Day is not a threat in itself. It is a celebration of labour, a moment of peaceful trade union expression in the vast majority of cases. The violence of 17 October was blamed by the Prime Minister on the ultra-left and then on more general delinquency, according to Public Sénat. Conflating the two would be unfair to the millions of employees who march every year.

Finally, the question reveals a deeper unease. If the eve of a vote is feared to this extent, it is because social anger has found no political outlet. Socialist senator Rémi Féraud sees it, again according to Public Sénat, as the result of ten years without a social response. Centrist Hervé Marseille himself criticises the executive for having left high school students' demands unanswered for more than a month. The climate remains tense: according to a dispatch published by Boursorama, LFI announced on Tuesday that it wants to refer Laurent Nuñez to the Cour de justice de la République, following revelations published by Mediapart.

Maire-info also highlighted a concrete, less spectacular problem: since 1 May is a public holiday, town halls will not be able to register proxy votes on the eve of the vote. This may be where public action is most useful.

Conclusion

Rather than reopening the calendar in haste, the executive could bring the parties together again, seek the opinion of the Conseil constitutionnel on both scenarios, and present a precise plan for securing the weekend of 1 and 2 May, proxy votes included. But the real guarantee of serenity will not come from a decree. It will come from a serious response to the high cost of living and to the anxiety of young people. The question remains open: will the Republic manage to calm the country by April, or will it have to settle for moving the date of its fears?

Article written with the help of artificial intelligence.