On 17 September 2012, 75 French MPs from the Socialist Parliamentary group published a petition in Le Monde urging the current government to move faster on plans to give foreign residents the right to vote and run as candidates in local elections. While this proposition figured among the “60 electoral promises” of the newly-elected French president François Hollande, the reform seems unlikely to come about before the next local elections to be held in 2014 for at least four reasons. Firstly, according to the latest opinion polls, the president’s popularity has plummeted four months after his election. A survey carried out by IFOP on 23 September found that only 43% of French voters were satisfied with the Socialist president, compared to 56% one month earlier. Secondly, a number of high profile ministers warned against the danger of initiating such a debate at a time when the National Front is on the rise. The right-of centre party UMP, currently in the midst of a succession war following the defeat and subsequent withdrawal from French politics of Nicolas Sarkozy, has launched an electronic popular initiative against the extension of the local franchise to resident third country nationals. The petition has encountered considerable success; the party claims to have collected 75,000 signatures one day after it was launched (see to the petition on the UMP website in French). Thirdly, according to opinion polls, the attitude of French voters towards the issue has shifted dramatically over the past 12 months. While a survey carried out by BVA in November 2011 found that 61% of French voters were in favour, another survey published in September 2012 found the exact opposite result, with 61% of respondents against the reform. Last but not least, extending the local franchise to resident third country nationals would require a change of the constitution which explicitly reserves electoral rights to “French nationals”. As a result, the current Socialist government faces two equally difficult options: On the one hand, it could seek to change art.3 of the constitution through parliamentary means – which would require the support of at least 75% of MPs and senators. On the other hand, the president could call for a national referendum in an increasingly volatile and polarized political context. Hence, the extension of the local franchise to resident third country nationals, already promised by former Socialist president François Mitterrand during his 1981 campaign, is likely to remain unheeded for yet another term.