French presidential election, 1958

French presidential election, 1958

21 December 1958

Candidate Charles de Gaulle Georges Marrane Party UNR PCF Electoral vote 62,394 10,355 Percentage 78.51% 13.03%

President before election René Coty Elected President Charles de Gaulle UNR

The French presidential election of 1958, the first of the French Fifth Republic, took place on December 21, 1958. This was the only French presidential election by the electoral college (gathering the members of the French Parliament, the Conseils Généraux, the overseas assemblies, and tens of thousands of mayors, deputy mayors and city council members). To win, a candidate needed to have 50% of the votes cast in his favour. This system was used only for this election, and was changed in the 1962 referendum in time for the 1965 presidential election.

Results

 Summary of the 21 December 1958 French presidential election result

Candidates		Parties		1st round
				Votes	%
	Charles de Gaulle	Union for the New Republic	UNR	62,394	78.51%
	Georges Marrane	French Communist Party	PCF	10,355	12.99%
	Albert Châtelet	Union of the Democratic Forces	UFD	6,721	8.43%
Total				79,470	100%
Valid votes				79,470	97.76%
Spoilt and null votes				1,820	2.24%
Turnout				81,290	99.42%
Abstentions				474	0.58%
Registered voters				81,764
Table of results ordered by number of votes received in first round. Official results by Constitutional Council of France. Source: List of candidates · First round result