the abstention rate, one of the great unknowns of the ballot

For this first round of the presidential election, abstention could rise to 28%according to the latest estimate from Ipsos. “If so, it would be 6 points more than five years ago, when abstention was 22.2%“, recalls the journalist of France Télévisions Guillaume Daret. In a first round, the abstention record was in 2002, with 28.4% of French people who did not go to vote. Conversely, the lowest abstention rate dates back to the 1965 presidential election, with 15.25%.

But abstention is not the only uncertainty around this election. “Including among the French who are certain to travel tomorrow, there are still 26% who are not sure of the candidate they will choose. Moreover, Ipsos tells us that during the first round of the 2017 presidential election, 15% of voters made their choice in the last few days, and 10% at the last moment, which means in the voting booth“, details Guillaume Daret.