that time; estimates are however often available from the media of e.g. Belgium and Switzerland, or from foreign Internet sites, before that time. The specified times are in the time zone of the district, which is uniform (Paris time) across Metropolitan France, but varies in French overseas territories such as French Guiana, Martinique and Guadeloupe. The first official estimate of the results can consequently become available from Sunday, 8pm, Paris time. Due to their different time zones, voters in some overseas territories previously knew the probable results of elections before polling booths in Metropolitan France closed, which was suggested discouraged voting in these places. For this reason, since the 2000s, elections in French overseas territories in the Americas, as well as embassies and consulates there, are held on Saturdays as a special exemption. The next national election will take place in 2027. Voters With the exception of senatorial election, for which there is an electoral college, the voters are French citizens over the age of 18 registered on the electoral rolls. People are automatically registered on reaching the age of 18. For municipal and European, but not national elections, citizens aged 18 or older of other European Union countries may vote in France. Registration is not compulsory, but the absence of registration precludes the possibility of voting. Citizens may register either in their place of residence or in a place where they have been on the roll of taxpayers for local taxes for at least 5 years, but not in more than one place. Citizens living abroad may register at the consulate responsible for the region in which they live. Only citizens legally registered as voters can run for public office. There are exceptions to the above rules. Convicted criminals may be deprived of their civic rights, which include the right to vote, for a certain period of time depending on the crime. In particular, elected officials who have abused public funds may be deprived of the right to run for national public office for as long as 10 years. The application of such rules in the case of certain politicians has been controversial; see for instance the case of Alain Juppé. Voting by proxy is possible when the citizen cannot easily attend the polling station (reasons include: health problems, the citizen does not live in the voting constituency, away for work or vacations, jailed but has not yet been