Page "Académie française" Paragraph 10

New members are elected by the Académie itself.

( The original members were appointed.

) When a seat becomes vacant, a person may apply to the Secretary if he wishes to become a candidate.

Alternatively, existing members may nominate other candidates.

A candidate is elected on a majority of votes from voting members.

A quorum is twenty members.

If no candidate receives an absolute majority, another election must be held at a later date.

The election is valid only if the protector of the Académie, the President of France, grants his approval.

The President's approbation, however, is only a formality.

( There was a controversy about the candidacy of Paul Morand, whom Charles de Gaulle opposed in 1958.

Morand was finally elected ten years later, and he was received without the customary visit, at the time of investiture, to the Élysée palace.