No, this map doesn't show the results of the French parliamentary elections

What is the claim?

Social media users have posted a screenshot of a map of metropolitan France, claiming that it shows the French far-right party, National Rally (RN), winning every department except Paris but still coming third in the 2024 French parliamentary elections. The Metropolitan France region is divided into 96 administrative units called departments, administered by an elected body called a departmental council. 

One Facebook user posted the viral screenshot and wrote, "When you win every department in French elections except Paris and still come third it's rigged. French democracy." Archived versions of such posts can be seen here and here. 

Screenshots of Facebook posts falsely claiming that the map shows the results of the 2024 French parliamentary elections. (Source: Screenshots/Facebook/Modified by Logically Facts)

However, the map does not show the results of the 2024 French parliamentary elections but the results of the 2024 EU parliament elections in France.

What does the map actually show?

A reverse image search led us to a report by the French newspaper Dernières Nouvelles d'Alsace in which the screenshot was first published as an interactive infographic about the results of the European Parliament election held in France on June 9, 2024. When translated into English, the French title of the map reads, "2024 European elections results: which list came out on top in your constituency?"

Screenshot from the Dernières Nouvelles d'Alsace report showing the original interactive infographic. (Source: Screenshot/Dernières Nouvelles d'Alsace/Modified by Logically Facts)

"In metropolitan France, the Bardella list almost achieved a grand slam, leading in 92 out of 96 departments. Only Hauts-de-Seine, Paris, Val-de-Marne and Seine-Saint-Denis did not place the RN list in the lead," the report stated while talking about the "resounding victory of the National Rally (translated to English from French)."

The report also cited the Ministry of the Interior and Overseas Territories as the source of the infographic. We checked the ministry's official website, which led us to the dataset from which we could confirm that the infographic shows the European Union election results held in France on June 9, 2024, not the 2024 French elections, as claimed. 

We found that in metropolitan France, 92 out of 96 departments placed the RN list on top, with only four departments, Hauts-de-Seine (Besoin D'Europe), Paris (Reveiller L'Europe), Val-de-Marne (La France Insoumise), and Seine-Saint-Denis (La France Insoumise), choosing an alternative list as the leading one.

A website attributed to the Université de Strasbourg used the same dataset to create a similar infographic, as seen in the report and the viral posts. 

European Union elections in France

Representation at the European Parliament is allocated by population, and member nations' seats are decided proportionally depending on the percentage of their national vote, which is done using a direct universal suffrage with a single-round ballot system. 

In France, voters from all regions select from a single list of candidates for the European Parliament elections. The French electoral system employs closed lists, where voters cannot alter the order of candidates presented by each party. Most major political parties in France submit these lists, and only lists getting more than 5 percent of the vote get seats. Notably, the 2024 elections saw historic participation, with 38 French parties presenting candidate lists.

The list submitted by the RN party led by Jordan Bardella won 31.37 percent of the vote, much ahead of the Renaissance list (14.60 percent) and the socialist list (13.83 percent) in this election. 

2024 French elections

In the French National Assembly elections, voting occurs in two rounds. If no candidate secures 50 percent of the vote in the first round, the top two candidates advance to a second round. Additionally, any candidate supported by at least 12.5 percent of registered voters also progresses to the second round. In the second round, the candidate with the most votes wins, even if they get less than 50 percent. The party must win 289 seats for an overall majority in the 577-seat French assembly to form the government. 

The 2024 French Elections were held in two rounds on June 30 and July 7, respectively.

A report published by Dernières Nouvelles d'Alsace on July 2, 2024, after the results of the first round of French elections came out, stated that "France's far-right National Rally made historic gains in the first round of snap elections on Sunday. But their progress is greater in small towns and rural areas than in big cities." The report also added that RN came out on top in 297 out of France's 577 constituencies. The attached infographic clearly shows that the dominance was less pronounced than during the European election.

Screenshot from the Dernières Nouvelles d'Alsace report showing 2024 French parliamentary election results after the first round. (Source: Screenshot/Dernières Nouvelles d'Alsace/Modified by Logically Facts)

The second round results saw the leftist New Popular Front (NFP) alliance come first but fail to win a majority. After taking the lead in the first round, the RN party was pushed to third position in the final results, with the centrist Together bloc backed by French President Emmanuel Macron coming second. 

An interactive map depicting the final results from France's National elections, published by Le Monde, clearly shows that while the RN won in many parts of France, contrary to claims on social media, its dominance was again not as pronounced as during the European election, with the far-right party winning only 143 out of the total 577 constituencies. 

Screenshot from the Le Monde report showing the final results of the 2024 French parliamentary elections. (Source: Screenshot/Le Monde/Modified by Logically Facts)

The verdict

While the viral map indeed shows the dominance of the French far-right RN party in 96 departments of the French metropolitan region, it depicts the 2024 EU election results in France, not the 2024 French national elections, as claimed.