Double Ballot System

The double ballot system, often called the two-round system or scrutin à deux tours, requires a candidate to clear a defined threshold—typically an absolute majority of votes cast—to win in the first round. If no candidate meets that threshold, a second round (the "run-off") is held a short time later among a reduced field of contenders.

Two main variants exist:

• Majority run-off: only the top two first-round candidates advance. This guarantees the winner secures more than 50% of valid votes in the decisive round.
• Majority-plurality: any candidate exceeding a qualifying threshold may proceed. France's legislative elections use this form, with candidates needing at least 12.5% of registered voters in their constituency to qualify for the second round.

The system is most closely associated with the French Fifth Republic, where it has governed presidential elections since the constitutional revision of 1962 introducing direct election of the president. It is also used for presidential elections in countries including Austria, Brazil, Argentina, Poland, Portugal, Finland, and most of francophone Africa.

Proponents argue the double ballot produces winners with broader legitimacy than simple plurality ("first-past-the-post") systems, encourages strategic coalition-building between rounds, and forces candidates to appeal beyond their core base. It also allows voters to "vote with the heart" in round one and "vote with the head" in round two.

Critics note it can produce polarising run-offs, as seen in the 2002 French presidential election when Jean-Marie Le Pen (Front National) eliminated Socialist Lionel Jospin in round one, leaving Jacques Chirac to win the run-off with 82.21% of the vote. The system also imposes higher administrative costs and risks voter fatigue. Some scholars, following Maurice Duverger, argue it tends to produce multipartism with bipolar coalitions, distinguishing it from the two-party dynamics typical of single-round plurality systems.