✕ The Poynter Institute Menu Donate State Editions * California * Florida * Iowa * Michigan * New Hampshire * New York * North Carolina * Pennsylvania * Texas * West Virginia * Wisconsin Issues * All Issues * Online hoaxes * Coronavirus * Health Care * Immigration * Extremism * Taxes * Marijuana * Environment * Crime * Guns * Foreign Policy * LGBTQ+ People * Joe Biden * Kamala Harris * Donald Trump * Mitch McConnell * Hakeem Jeffries * Ron DeSantis Media * PunditFact * Tucker Carlson * Sean Hannity * Rachel Maddow * Bloggers * PolitiFact Videos Campaigns * 2024 Elections Truth-o-Meter * True * Mostly True * Half True * Mostly False * False * Pants on Fire Promises * Biden Promise Tracker * Trump-O-Meter * Obameter * Latest Promises About Us * Our Process * Our Staff * En Español * Who pays for PolitiFact? * Advertise with Us * Suggest a Fact-check * Corrections and Updates * Newsletters Donate #### Follow us The Facts Newsletter Sign up English Español ### Stand up for the facts! Our only agenda is to publish the truth so you can be an informed participant in democracy. We need your help. More Info ### I would like to contribute One Time Monthly Yearly Join Now # Why France reports election results faster than the US * National * Ohio * Elections ![\\"Voting](\\" Voting station volunteers count ballots box in the first round of the French presidential election, in Strasbourg, eastern France, Sunday, April 10, 2022. (AP) ![\\"Amy](\\" By Amy Sherman April 13, 2022 #### If Your Time is short * France held the first round of voting for president on April 10. President Emmanuel Macron and Marine Le Pen, the top two vote getters, advanced to the April 24 runoff. Initial results were known that evening. * In France, after the last polls close at 8 p.m., initial projected results are posted and then updated throughout the night. These initial results historically have proven to be correct. * France gets faster election results for a variety of reasons, including that French elections are run by the national government and fewer elected offices are on the ballot. In November 2020, it took days for key states in the U.S. to count ballots and report preliminary results to project a winner in the presidential race. But that’s not the case in France, said Ohio Senate candidate J.D. Vance. \"I have a buddy in France, and they just had an election there,\" Vance tweeted April 10, drawing tens of thousands of reactions. \"Polls closed a few hours ago and they already know who the winners are. Must be nice to live in a first world country.\" Vance didn’t directly compare the counting of results in France and the U.S., but many who viewed his tweet read it that way. Vance is one of many Republicans running in the May 3 primary in Ohio with hopes of replacing Sen. Rob Portman who is retiring. We were curious about Vance’s comments and the differences between U.S. and French elections. In France, the first results were quickly posted on election night, which was April 10. Since no candidate received more than 50% of votes cast, the top two vote-getters, President Emmanuel Macron and far-right candidate Marine Le Pen, will compete in a runoff on April 24. The initial numbers were projected results, but they did end up being correct in predicting who would move on to the second round. But experts told us that it’s not so simple to compare France, and the U.S. because there are key differences in how their elections are administered. How results are reported in France Almost all French voters cast ballots in person on Election Day. Its overseas territories started voting on Saturday, April 9, while voters in France went to designated polling stations on Sunday, April 10. (Voters can designate someone to cast a ballot on their behalf by proxy.) Most of the polling stations closed at 7 p.m., while some in larger cities such as Paris closed at 8 p.m. Immediately after the closing of the polling stations, the ballots were counted manually at each polling station, said Pascal Confavreux, spokesperson for the Embassy of France in the U.S. The results were announced in each polling station, usually one or two hours after the closing time, and transmitted to the Ministry of Interior, which published the results in real time. The first results were made public at 8 p.m. local time. These results were a combination of polling station surveys and the very first provisional results published by the Ministry of Interior. They were updated in the minutes and hours to follow. \"In all cases, the estimation given at 8 p.m. always gives the right winner, and the estimate only changes marginally after it is checked,\" said Vincent Martigny, a political science professor at University of Nice. But those weren’t the final results, said Erwan Lagadec, a professor at the Institute for European, Russian, and Eurasian Studies at George Washington University. For instance, the score of the candidate who ultimately came in third place, Jean-Luc Melenchon, crept up all night. \"Since the only fact that matters in the first round is who the top two candidates are, it\'s typically easier to make a solid projection early on,\" Lagadec said. The Ministry of Interior published the day after, in the afternoon, the consolidated results taking into account all the results from France, French territories overseas and the French people living abroad, Confavreux said. The Constitutional Council announced on April 13 that Macron and Le Pen were the official winners and will advance to the runoff. The council also ensures that the election was properly conducted and examines any complaints. Elections experts noted several differences between how France and the U.S. elect presidents which play a role in the reporting of results: In France, the election was a single contest. Voters selected a candidate card and stuffed it in an envelope. Those cards were then placed into piles for each candidate and counted. \"It’s certainly easier than the U.S., where there are often many more races you are dealing with,\" said David Levine, elections integrity fellow at the Alliance for Securing Democracy at the German Marshall Fund. Elections in France are centralized. This means the rules for the election are the same no matter where you live, although there are slight variations in when the polls close. The Ministry of the Interior makes technical preparations for elections and develops and distributes ballots. This is very different from the U.S., where elections are decentralized. Counties and municipalities in the U.S. administer elections based on 50 state laws and then report results to states which then certify results and pass them along to Congress. A single time zone and fewer votes can speed up the process. France only has one time zone, while the U.S. has six time zones (four main ones.) About 35 million French cast ballots, while about 158 million Americans voted in the general presidential election. France doesn’t have an Electoral College. \"They know when they\'ve got somebody up ahead and winning and has a decent chance. That’s not necessarily the case here,\" Levine said. In the U.S., it can take several days for states to count ballots until a candidate is projected to have reached the 270 electoral count threshold. France does not have voting by mail, except for a very small sliver of people who are in pre-trial detention or in jail, Levine said. In the U.S., it takes several days to go through the process dictated by state laws to receive, verify and count millions of mail ballots. Under varying state laws, voters often have a certain number of days to correct defects on their mail ballot, such as if they forgot to sign the return envelope. **RELATED** : The race for the Ohio U.S. Senate seat: A guide ​​**RELATED** : All of our fact-checks about elections Sign Up For Our Weekly Newsletter ### Our Sources J.D. Vance, Tweet, April 10, 2022 Ministry of the Interior, First round French presidential election results, April 10, 2024 France24, Explainer: What you need to know about France’s presidential election, April 9, 2022 The Local, How do the French produce such accurate early election results? April 7, 2022 Atlantic Council Europe Center, Twitter thread on elections in France, April 8, 2022 ABC 15 data/political analyst Garrett Archer, Tweet, April 11, 2022 New York Times, Macron to Face Le Pen for President as French Gravitate Toward Extremes, April 10, 2022 Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights, France presidential election, April 2022 Constitutional Council, Press release, April 13, 2022 PolitiFact, Prepare for the weirdest election \'night\' ever, Sept. 1, 2020 Telephone interview, David Levine, elections integrity fellow at the Alliance Securing Democracy at the German Marshall Fund of the U.S., April 12, 2022 Email interview, Erwan Lagadec, professor at the Institute for European, Russian, and Eurasian Studies at George Washington University, April 11, 2022 Telephone interview, Marie Jourdain, visiting fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Europe Center, April 12, 2022 Email interview, Nonna Mayer, CNRS Research Director Emerita at the Centre for European Studies and Comparative Politics of Sciences Po, April 11, 2022 Email interview, Vincent Martigny, political science professor at University of Nice, April 11, 2022 Email interview, Pascal Confavreux, spokesperson for the Embassy of France in the U.S., April 12, 2022 ## Browse the Truth-O-Meter ### More by Amy Sherman ![](\\" ![](\\" JD Vance stated on August 25, 2024 in an interview on NBC\'s \"Meet the Press\": A zero-tolerance policy during the Trump administration \"led to less family separation than under Kamala Harris\' border policies.” ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Amy Sherman • September 4, 2024 ![](\\" ![](\\" Donald Trump stated on August 26, 2024 in an interview with a podcaster: Vice President Kamala Harris “is a communist. … She is really a Marxist.” ![\\"pants-fire\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"pants-fire\\"](\\" pants-fire.jpg\\") By Amy Sherman • September 4, 2024 ![](\\" ![](\\" Rick Scott stated on August 28, 2024 in a post on X: “This month alone, more than 16,000 non-citizens have been removed from the voter rolls in 3 states.” ![\\"half-true\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"half-true\\"](\\" true.jpg\\") By Samantha Putterman • August 29, 2024 ![](\\" ![](\\" Donald Trump stated on August 23, 2024 in a speech in Las Vegas: “Kamala cast the tiebreaking vote to hire 87,000 new IRS agents to go after your tip income.” ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Amy Sherman • August 28, 2024 ![](\\" ![](\\" Tim Walz stated on August 14, 2024 in a speech in California: Former President Donald Trump “cut overtime benefits for millions of workers.” ![\\"barely-true\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"barely-true\\"](\\" barely-true.jpg\\") By Amy Sherman • August 20, 2024 ![](\\" ![](\\" Pete Buttigieg stated on August 11, 2024 in an interview on CNN State of the Union: Gov. Tim Walz delivered paid family leave in Minnesota but “Republicans are blocking” a Biden-Harris proposal. ![\\"mostly-true\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"mostly-true\\"](\\" mostly-true.jpg\\") By Amy Sherman • August 16, 2024 ![](\\" ![](\\" Donald Trump stated on August 8, 2024 in a press conference: Says his Jan. 6, 2021, speech on the White House Ellipse drew the “same number of people,” as the 1963 March on Washington where Martin Luther King Jr. gave his “I Have a Dream” speech. ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Louis Jacobson • August 9, 2024 ![](\\" Instagram_logo_2016.svg/322c808c00e73c217d17772ddd5a0eb5.jpg\\") ![](\\" Instagram_logo_2016.svg/8b142c91ebe468a84a192e6df2b7b994.jpg\\") Instagram posts stated on August 2, 2024 in a video: In Pompano Beach, Florida, Somali immigrants illegally in the U.S. were in line to get driver’s licenses and “all you need to vote is a driver\'s license.” ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Kwasi Gyamfi Asiedu • August 7, 2024 ![](\\" ![](\\" Donald Trump stated on July 27, 2024 in a rally in St. Cloud, Minnesota: During the 2020 Minnesota riots after George Floyd’s murder, Gov. Tim Walz didn’t call in the National Guard, “so, I sent in the National Guard to save Minneapolis.” ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Amy Sherman • August 7, 2024 ![](\\" ![](\\" Donald Trump stated on August 3, 2024 in a rally in Atlanta: Kamala Harris “supports mandatory gun confiscation.” ![\\"barely-true\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"barely-true\\"](\\" barely-true.jpg\\") By Amy Sherman • August 7, 2024 ![](\\" ![](\\" Donald Trump stated on July 24, 2024 in a rally in Charlotte, North Carolina: Kamala Harris “wants to defund the police.” ![\\"barely-true\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"barely-true\\"](\\" barely-true.jpg\\") By Amy Sherman • July 30, 2024 ![](\\" ![](\\" Donald Trump stated on July 24, 2024 in a rally in Charlotte, North Carolina: Kamala Harris “supported abolishing ICE.” ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Amy Sherman • July 29, 2024 ![](\\" Instagram_logo_2016.svg/322c808c00e73c217d17772ddd5a0eb5.jpg\\") ![](\\" Instagram_logo_2016.svg/8b142c91ebe468a84a192e6df2b7b994.jpg\\") Instagram posts stated on July 22, 2024 in an Instagram post: There are nine states “where Biden’s name can’t be removed and no one can be added. That’s over 130 electoral votes in the toilet.” ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Ranjan Jindal • July 23, 2024 ![](\\" ![](\\" Kamala Harris stated on July 17, 2024 in a campaign video: \"Unlike Mike Pence, (JD) Vance said he would have carried out Trump\'s plan to overturn the 2020 election.\" ![\\"mostly-true\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"mostly-true\\"](\\" mostly-true.jpg\\") By Amy Sherman • July 18, 2024 ![](\\" ![](\\" Kari Lake stated on July 16, 2024 in in a speech at RNC in Milwaukee: “Just last week, Ruben Gallego voted to let the millions of people who poured into our country illegally cast a ballot in this upcoming election.” ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Amy Sherman • July 17, 2024 ### Why France reports election results faster than the US * ![](\\" ![](\\" Social Media stated on September 6, 2024 in in social media posts: Haitian immigrants are eating pets and wildlife in Springfield, Ohio. ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Jeff Cercone • September 9, 2024 * ![](\\" ![](\\" Social Media stated on September 2, 2024 in social media posts: The Hells Angels Motorcycle Club is on the way to Aurora, Colorado, to confront a Venezuelan gang. ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Loreben Tuquero • September 9, 2024 * ![](\\" ![](\\" Kamala Harris stated on July 20, 2024 in remarks at a fundraiser in Provincetown, Mass.: Donald Trump “took away protections against discrimination for LGBTQ patients under the Affordable Care Act.” ![\\"mostly-true\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"mostly-true\\"](\\" mostly-true.jpg\\") By Grace Abels • September 9, 2024 * ![](\\" ![](\\" One Nation stated on August 23, 2024 in an ad: “Sen. Jacky Rosen voted to increase taxes on families making less than $75,000 a year.” ![\\"barely-true\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"barely-true\\"](\\" barely-true.jpg\\") By Seth A. Richardson • September 9, 2024 * ![](\\" ![](\\" Facebook posts stated on September 3, 2024 in una publicación en Facebook: \"La nueva ley de condonación elimina $15,000 de la deuda de tarjetas de crédito para todos los estadounidenses\". ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Maria Briceño • September 9, 2024 * ![](\\" ![](\\" X posts stated on September 3, 2024 in una publicación en X: “Un grupo de 32 venezolanos armados tomaron esta noche un edificio de apartamentos en Chicago”. ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Sofia Ahmed • September 9, 2024 * ![](\\" ![](\\" Donald Trump stated on September 7, 2024 in a rally in Mosinee, Wis.: Vice President Kamala Harris “cast the tiebreaking votes that caused the worst inflation in American history, costing a typical American family $28,000.” ![\\"barely-true\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"barely-true\\"](\\" barely-true.jpg\\") By Louis Jacobson • September 8, 2024 * ![](\\" ![](\\" National Republican Senatorial Committee stated on August 28, 2024 in an Instagram ad: Elissa Slotkin “gave your hard-earned tax money to illegal immigrants.” ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Caleb McCullough • September 6, 2024 * ![](\\" ![](\\" Instagram posts stated on September 5, 2024 in a post: Video shows Democratic vice presidential candidate Tim Walz dancing to Beyoncé in a cowboy hat and crop top. ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Sara Swann • September 6, 2024 * ![](\\" ![](\\" X posts stated on September 3, 2024 in X posts: A group of 32 armed Venezuelans took over an apartment building in Chicago. ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Sofia Ahmed • September 6, 2024 Load more #### Offices District of Columbia 1800 I Street NW Washington, DC 20006 Florida 801 3rd St. S St. Petersburg, FL 33701 727-821-9494 #### People * Joe Biden * Kamala Harris * Donald Trump * Mitch McConnell * Hakeem Jeffries * Ron DeSantis #### State Editions * California * Florida * Iowa * Michigan * New Hampshire * New York * North Carolina * Pennsylvania * Texas * West Virginia * Wisconsin #### About Us * Our Process * Our Staff * En Español * Who pays for PolitiFact? * Advertise with Us * Corrections and Updates * Newsletters #### RSS Feeds * Recent Articles and Fact-checks * Recent Fact-checks Suggest a Fact-check #### Follow us The Facts Newsletter Sign up Terms & Conditions Privacy Policy Copyright ©All Rights Reserved Poynter Institute 2020, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization ![\\"\\"](\\" * * *
In France polls closed a few hours ago and they already know who the winners are