![\\"logo\\"](\\"/img/logo-dpa-factchecking.svg\\"/) *About ![\\"IFCN](\\"/img/ifcn-certificate.png\\"/) ![\\"EFCSN](\\"/img/efcsn- certificate.png\\"/) # A technical error in the figures broadcast by France 2 on the election presidential 3.5.2022, 17:16 (CEST) Since the French presidential election which saw the re-election of Emmanuel Macron, many Internet users denounce a rigging. The proof would be figures broadcast by the France 2 channel during the electoral evening of second round, April 24, 2022. In photos shared on the networks social (examples here and here), we see Marine Le Pen in the lead, with more than 14 million votes that would have been granted to him, before this number falls again in the evening. What happened? ## Assessment These photos lack context. They are not proof of fraud electoral. France 2 claimed to have been the victim of a technical error, which leads to the broadcast of incorrect figures. The French Ministry of Interior has never awarded 14 million votes to Marine Le Pen. ## Facts The photos come from the program dedicated to the results of the second round of the French presidential election on France 2 on April 24. According to the figures displayed, the candidate Marine Le Pen seems to have collected more than 14 million votes, more than outgoing President Emmanuel Macron. However, it was ultimately the latter who was elected, with 18.7 million votes (compared to 13.2 million for Le Pen), according to the final results. Some Internet users were quick to cry scandal on the networks social, denouncing rigging. Photos shared online have not been manipulated. These figures have good were broadcast by the public television channel France 2. This apologized the next day on Twitter, citing a “computer error” which led her “to display erroneous figures during election night”. The channel explained that the software allowing it to broadcast data from the Ministry of the Interior, in charge of publishing the ballot, “counted the votes of certain municipalities twice for the two candidates", which led to an on-screen display of 14.2 million votes for Emmanuel Macron and of 14.4 million votes for Marine Le Pen around 9:10 p.m. “This error, noted immediately, was subsequently corrected. THE Ministry of the Interior never awarded 14 million votes to Marine Le Pen,” France 2 clarified. The erroneous figures broadcast by the channel did not appear on the ministry website. The French press agency AFP made the comparison with the data communicated at 9:15 p.m. by the ministry: it reported 5.4 million votes for Emmanuel Macron and 5.4 million for Marine Le Pen. An archived version of the Interior Ministry page at 9:42 p.m. (7:42 p.m. GMT) that evening shows that these figures then increased to 9.6 million votes for Macron and 8.6 million for Le Pen. The results The final results of the latter are 13,288,686 votes. So she never reached 14 million. In a podcast, a journalist from Le Monde returned to the origins of theory of supposed electoral fraud born on social networks, emphasizing that there is no evidence to support this. These statements were also verified by dpa teams in Germany and the The Netherlands. (Inventory as of 05/03/2022) ## Links Facebook post 1/2 (archived version) Facebook post 2/2 (archived version) France 2 broadcast Final results of the second round (archived version) Statement from France 2 on Twitter (archived version) AFP fact-check (archived version) Results archived at 9:42 p.m. Podcast du Monde (archived version) DPA fact check in Germany Fact-check from the dpa in the Netherlands Contact the dpa fact-checking team: factcheck- belgium@dpa.com powered by dpa-newslab | Imprint | Privacy | About:
Marine Le Pen had collected more than 14 million votes in the presidential election before these figures were modified