Does a person detained in prison have the right to vote?

Verified 12 March 2026 - Public Service / Directorate of Legal and Administrative Information (Prime Minister)

You are in a prison and you want to know if you can still vote? It depends on your situation (inmate convicted or person in pretrial detention, also known as “ defendant ’ or ‘ defendant ”) and the preservation or not of your civil rights. We present you the information to know.

Convicted inmate

A detainee deprived of his liberty does not automatically lose his right to vote. If he still has his civil rights, he can vote in the various elections.

For this, it must be entered on a list of electors.

You can register or change your registration throughout the year.

Be careful, to vote in a particular election, you have to do this before a deadline.

The terms and conditions of vote differ depending on the election:

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Municipal, departmental, regional and legislative elections

An inmate definitively convicted may vote from 2 ways :

Proxy voting
Information on electoral rights

The head of the penitentiary shall, by all means, inform detainees of the procedures for their registration on the electoral roll and for exercising their right to vote.

It must do so in the 15 days next incarceration detained persons.

It shall also inform, under the same conditions, persons of voting age on polling day who are detained in a juvenile ward or a specialized juvenile prison.

The head of the penitentiary institution must provide detainees who wish to register on the electoral roll with the necessary means to apply for registration and to gather the required supporting documents. At the same time, it verifies their identity by all means.

Procedures for registration on a list of electors

The proxy voting allows the inmate to instruct a person to vote for him.

For this, the inmate must be registered on the electoral roll of one of the following municipalities :

  • Municipality of his home
  • Municipality of last residence (6 months at least)
  • Municipality of birth
  • Municipality in which one of its members was born, is registered or has been registered on the electoral roll ascendants or descendants
  • Municipality on the list of electors of which his spouse, partner of Civil partnerships: titleContent or cohabiting partner
  • Municipality on the list of electors of which one of its members is or has been registered parents up to the 4th degree.

The inmate must provide the following items :

The application for registration, together with the required documents, shall be forwarded by the head of the prison to the mayor of the commune concerned by post RAR: titleContent or by email with acknowledgement of receipt.

Voting at the polling station
Information on electoral rights

The head of the penitentiary shall, by all means, inform detainees of the procedures for their registration on the electoral roll and for exercising their right to vote.

It must do so in the 15 days next incarceration detained persons.

It shall also inform, under the same conditions, persons of voting age on polling day and detained in a juvenile ward or a specialized juvenile prison.

The head of the penitentiary institution must provide detainees who wish to register on the electoral roll with the necessary means to apply for registration and to gather the required supporting documents. At the same time, it verifies their identity by all means.

Beforehand, the inmate must ask the judge of application of sentences one permission to leave a day to go and vote.

FYI  

This permission is permitted in the following cases :

  • Sentencing to one or more prison terms not exceeding five years
  • Sentence to one or more prison terms of more than 5 years when half of the sentence has been served.

Procedures for registration on a list of electors

The inmate must be registered on the list of electors one of the following municipalities :

  • Municipality of his home
  • Municipality of last residence (6 months at least)
  • Municipality of birth
  • Municipality in which one of its members was born, is registered or has been registered on the electoral roll ascendants or descendants
  • Municipality on the list of electors of which his spouse, partner of Civil partnerships: titleContent or cohabiting partner
  • Municipality on the list of electors of which one of its members is or has been registered parents up to the 4th degree.

The inmate must provide the following items :

The application for registration, together with the required documents, shall be forwarded by the head of the prison to the mayor of the commune concerned by post RAR: titleContent or by email with acknowledgement of receipt.

Presidential, European and Referendum Elections

An inmate definitively convicted may vote from 3 Ways :

Proxy voting
Information on electoral rights

The head of the penitentiary shall, by all means, inform detainees of the procedures for their registration on the electoral roll and for exercising their right to vote.

It must do so in the 15 days next incarceration detained persons.

It shall also inform, under the same conditions, persons of voting age on polling day who are detained in a juvenile ward or a specialized juvenile prison.

The head of the penitentiary institution must provide detainees who wish to register on the electoral roll with the necessary means to apply for registration and to gather the required supporting documents. At the same time, it verifies their identity by all means.

Procedures for registration on a list of electors

The proxy voting allows the inmate to instruct a person to vote for him.

For this, the inmate must be registered on the electoral roll of one of the following municipalities :

  • Municipality of his home
  • Municipality of last residence (6 months at least)
  • Municipality of birth
  • Municipality in which one of its members was born, is registered or has been registered on the electoral roll ascendants or descendants
  • Municipality on the list of electors of which his spouse, partner of Civil partnerships: titleContent or cohabiting partner
  • Municipality on the list of electors of which one of its members is or has been registered parents up to the 4th degree.

The inmate must provide the following items :

The application for registration, together with the required documents, shall be forwarded by the head of the prison to the mayor of the commune concerned by post RAR: titleContent or by email with acknowledgement of receipt.

Voting at the polling station
Information on electoral rights

The head of the penitentiary shall, by all means, inform detainees of the procedures for their registration on the electoral roll and for exercising their right to vote.

It must do so in the 15 days next incarceration detained persons.

It shall also inform, under the same conditions, persons of voting age on polling day and detained in a juvenile ward or a specialized juvenile prison.

The head of the penitentiary institution must provide detainees who wish to register on the electoral roll with the necessary means to apply for registration and to gather the required supporting documents. At the same time, it verifies their identity by all means.

Beforehand, the inmate must ask the judge of application of sentences one permission to leave a day to go and vote.

FYI  

This permission is permitted in the following cases :

  • Sentencing to one or more prison terms not exceeding five years
  • Sentence to one or more prison terms of more than 5 years when half of the sentence has been served.

Procedures for registration on a list of electors

The inmate must be registered on the list of electors one of the following municipalities :

  • Municipality of his home
  • Municipality of last residence (6 months at least)
  • Municipality of birth
  • Municipality in which one of its members was born, is registered or has been registered on the electoral roll ascendants or descendants
  • Municipality on the list of electors of which his spouse, partner of Civil partnerships: titleContent or cohabiting partner
  • Municipality on the list of electors of which one of its members is or has been registered parents up to the 4th degree.

The inmate must provide the following items :

The application for registration, together with the required documents, shall be forwarded by the head of the prison to the mayor of the commune concerned by post RAR: titleContent or by email with acknowledgement of receipt.

Vote by post
Information on electoral rights

The head of the penitentiary shall, by all means, inform detainees of the procedures for their registration on the electoral roll and for exercising their right to vote.

It must do so in the 15 days next incarceration detained persons.

It shall also inform, under the same conditions, persons of voting age on polling day who are detained in a juvenile ward or a specialized juvenile prison.

The head of the penitentiary institution must provide detainees who wish to register on the electoral roll with the necessary means to apply for registration and to gather the required supporting documents. At the same time, it verifies their identity by all means.

Procedures for registration on a list of electors

To vote by mail, the inmate must apply to be registered on the list of electors of commune capital of the department or community where the penitentiary institution is located, at a polling station corresponding to the electoral district with the largest number of voters registered on the lists of electors.

The inmate must provide the following items :

Voting arrangements

Voting by mail takes place in the prison, before the date of the election or referendum (no later than the Saturday preceding the election).

Before the vote, the head of the penitentiary shall give the inmate concerned following documents :

  • Election leaflets (no later than the Wednesday preceding the election or referendum)
  • Ballot papers
  • Identification envelope
  • Electoral envelope.

On the day of the vote in the prison, the head of the prison verifies the identity of the voter.

The voter enters his ballot in the electoral envelope. This must take place in a place out of sight.

Then the voter puts in the identification envelope:

  • The electoral envelope
  • One proof of identity (a copy of an identity document or document attesting to the identity of the elector issued by the head of the penitentiary).

It seals its identification envelope and indicates its name and first names, its place of detention and sound nut number.

FYI  

Once the envelope is sealed, the voter can no longer revoke his or her vote.

The person who has been sentenced by the courts to the loss of his civil rights loses his right to vote during the period fixed by the judgment.

The loss of civil rights begins when the conviction is final, that is to say when the remedies (appeal, cassation...) are exhausted, or when the time limits for appeal have expired.

Pretrial detention

A person in pretrial detention may vote either by proxy, or by correspondence.

For this, it must be entered on a list of electors.

You can register or change your registration throughout the year.

Be careful, to vote in a particular election, you have to do this before a deadline.

The terms and conditions of vote differ depending on the election:

Répondez aux questions successives et les réponses s’afficheront automatiquement

Municipal, departmental, regional and legislative elections

The person in pretrial detention may voting by proxy.

Information on electoral rights

The head of the penitentiary shall, by all means, inform detainees of the procedures for their registration on the electoral roll and for exercising their right to vote.

It must do so in the 15 days next incarceration detained persons.

It shall also inform, under the same conditions, persons of voting age on polling day who are detained in a juvenile ward or a specialized juvenile prison.

The head of the penitentiary institution must provide detainees who wish to register on the electoral roll with the necessary means to apply for registration and to gather the required supporting documents. At the same time, it verifies their identity by all means.

Procedures for registration on a list of electors

Proxy voting allows the person in pre-trial detention to instruct a person to vote for him or her.

For this, the person in pre-trial detention must be registered on the electoral roll of one of the following municipalities :

  • Municipality of his home
  • Municipality of last residence (6 months at least)
  • Municipality of birth
  • Municipality in which one of its members was born, is registered or has been registered on the electoral roll ascendants or descendants
  • Municipality on the list of electors of which his spouse, partner of Civil partnerships: titleContent or cohabiting partner
  • Municipality on the list of electors of which one of its members is or has been registered parents up to the 4th degree.

The person in pre-trial detention must provide the following items :

The application for registration, together with the required documents, shall be forwarded by the head of the prison to the mayor of the commune concerned by post RAR: titleContent or by email with acknowledgement of receipt.

Presidential, European and Referendum Elections

A person in pretrial detention may vote from 2 ways :

Proxy voting
Information on electoral rights

The head of the penitentiary shall, by all means, inform detainees of the procedures for their registration on the electoral roll and for exercising their right to vote.

It must do so in the 15 days next incarceration detained persons.

It shall also inform, under the same conditions, persons of voting age on polling day who are detained in a juvenile ward or a specialized juvenile prison.

The head of the penitentiary institution must provide detainees who wish to register on the electoral roll with the necessary means to apply for registration and to gather the required supporting documents. At the same time, it verifies their identity by all means.

Procedures for registration on a list of electors

The proxy voting allows the person in pre-trial detention to instruct a person to vote for him or her.

For this, the person in pre-trial detention must be registered on the electoral roll of one of the following municipalities :

  • Municipality of his home
  • Municipality of last residence (6 months at least)
  • Municipality of birth
  • Municipality in which one of its members was born, is registered or has been registered on the electoral roll ascendants or descendants
  • Municipality on the list of electors of which his spouse, partner of Civil partnerships: titleContent or cohabiting partner
  • Municipality on the list of electors of which one of its members is or has been registered parents up to the 4th degree.

The person in pre-trial detention must provide the following items :

The application for registration, together with the required documents, shall be forwarded by the head of the prison to the mayor of the commune concerned by post RAR: titleContent or by email with acknowledgement of receipt.

Vote by post
Information on electoral rights

The head of the penitentiary shall, by all means, inform detainees of the procedures for their registration on the electoral roll and for exercising their right to vote.

It must do so in the 15 days next incarceration detained persons.

It shall also inform, under the same conditions, persons of voting age on polling day who are detained in a juvenile ward or a specialized juvenile prison.

The head of the penitentiary institution must provide detainees who wish to register on the electoral roll with the necessary means to apply for registration and to gather the required supporting documents. At the same time, it verifies their identity by all means.

Procedures for registration on a list of electors

To vote by mail, the person in pre-trial detention must apply to be registered on the electoral list of the commune capital of the department or community where the penitentiary institution is located, at a polling station corresponding to the electoral district with the largest number of voters registered on the lists of electors.

The person in pre-trial detention must provide the following items :

Voting arrangements

Voting by mail takes place in the prison, before the date of the election or referendum (no later than the Saturday preceding the election).

Before the vote, the head of the penitentiary institution shall give the person in pre-trial detention the following documents :

  • Election leaflets (no later than the Wednesday preceding the election or referendum)
  • Ballot papers
  • Identification envelope
  • Electoral envelope.

On the day of the vote in the prison, the head of the prison verifies the identity of the person in pre-trial detention.

The person in pre-trial detention inserts his ballot into the electoral envelope. This must take place in a place out of sight.

Then it puts in the identification envelope:

  • The electoral envelope
  • One proof of identity (a copy of an identity document or document attesting to the identity of the elector issued by the head of the penitentiary).

The person in pre-trial detention shall seal his identification envelope and indicate his name and forenames, his place of detention. detention and sound nut number.

FYI  

Once the envelope is sealed, the person in pre-trial detention can no longer revoke his or her vote.

FAQ