This is something new, which was tested in the last European elections and the anticipated legislative elections, and is now widespread. Ahead of the next municipal elections scheduled for March 2026, it is now possible to create a 100% online proxy for all ballots… provided you have a “certified digital identity”, the Ministry of the Interior, responsible for elections, announced this Monday in a press release. Until now, any power of attorney drawn up online had to be physically authenticated at a police or gendarmerie station.
How to proceed? The first step, you must have a new identity card, in bank card format. If you still have the old one, you can update it for free, as explained by the public service. You will then have to download the France Identity app on your phone and then take the steps to obtain a digital identity.
A mandatory and unique visit to the city hall
For this last point, the procedure is not too complicated. As the Ministry of the Interior points out, once France Identity is downloaded and your identity card is recognized by the app, you must “initiate the request for certification of your digital identity”.
Once the procedures have been followed, you must go – without making an appointment – to the city hall “offering identity certification with your identity card, your phone and the QR code associated with your request”. A list of the city halls in question is available here. You no longer need to repeat this step once your digital identity is validated.
Only after all these steps are validated will you be able to provide your proxy online for the municipal election and all future elections. To do this, you need to take the information of the person who will vote for you (voter number and date of birth). You must then visit the special site maprocuration.gouv.fr and authenticate with your digital identity.
According to the Ministry of the Interior, during the European elections and early legislative elections, “the complete dematerialization of proxy formation was successful, with more than 100,000 proxies established completely online”. “Of the 4.4 million power of attorney letters made, 75% were made through the online Maprocuration process, either electronically, or by visiting a gendarmerie brigade or police station to validate the power of attorney,” continued Place Beauvau.
A physical power of attorney can still be created, for people who do not have a digital identity.
