Election Sundays look similar and follow each other: Abstention breaks yet another record in the first round of legislative election. This was also the case in the second and third rounds of the presidential elections two months ago, with the exception of 2002. Already in the 2020 and 2021 municipal, regional, and departmental elections…
The 2017 record (51.3%) has been exceeded with at least 52% abstention. It remains to be seen if calls for mobilization by all sides will prevent the second-round record (57.3%) being broken next Sunday.
The repeated repetition of the same ballot from one election to another is a sign of a general indifference to elections. While citizens continue to support various causes through associations and organizations, they no longer believe that it is possible for them to make a difference in their daily lives through the use of a ballot.
Certain groups are more affected by indifference than others: people without diplomas more than those with “bac”, the wealthy more than those who don’t have them, the young more that the old… In contrast, Seine-Saint-Denis is the youngest French department, with 17.2% of the population aged 60 or older, has the lowest participation.
Let’s not forget about the peculiarity of these legislative election convened after 2002’s presidential election: they have been reduced to “confirmation votes” of the ballot that controls all aspects of French political life. A system of institutions that must be urgently reviewed, and not to accept the repetition of existing records…
