Marine Le Pen eligible for 2027 presidential election despite electronic tag sentence

French far-right leader Marine Le Pen, a member of parliament for the Rassemblement National RN party, remains eligible to run in the 2027 presidential election despite a recent court ruling. The appeals court reduced her ineligibility period to fifteen months, which has already been served. However, she was sentenced to a 100,000 euro fine, forty-five months of ineligibility thirty of which are suspended, and three years of imprisonment, with one year to be served at home under an electronic tag. This decision allows for a potential fourth presidential candidacy, though Le Pen had previously stated that a full campaign would be incompatible with wearing an electronic tag. Her lawyer, Me Rodolphe Bosselut, expressed partial satisfaction with the verdict. The court emphasized the seriousness of the misappropriation of over 2.8 million euros in European Parliament funds for the benefit of the RN party, describing it as an organized scheme over 11 years. Despite the conviction, the court highlighted the importance of the "freedom of candidacies" and the "freedom of voters' choice." Polls suggest Le Pen or Jordan Bardella, who could be nominated as the RN candidate if Le Pen chooses not to run, are favorites for the 2027 election, both garnering over 30% of voting intentions in the first round. Socialist parliamentary leader Boris Vallaud called Le Pen a "delinquent" following the verdict, stating it is now up to her to decide if a convicted individual should run for election.