In Le Vrai du faux Junior, students wonder this week about the potential impact of the war in Ukraine on the presidential election and the conditions under which a ballot can be canceled. Julie Marie-Leconte from the political service of franceinfo answers them.
Can the presidential election stop because of the war in Ukraine?
“On TikTokindicates Maya, it is said that the presidential election will be stopped because of the war in Ukraine, is that true?
“No, it’s wrong”replies the journalist from the political department, “I‘election presidential election will take place. Julie Marie-Leconte reminds us that we will vote for the first round on April 10, for the second round on April 24 and that the ballot will be well maintained because this presidential election “is a really very important ballot in French democratic life and that it is governed by the Constitution, the strongest piece of legislation in the Republic“. However, the Constitution does not provide for the interruption of the electoral process because there is war in another country.
“Some candidates, emphasizes Julie Marie-Leconte, believe, on the other hand, that what has stopped is the countryside, because everyone’s attention has been caught up in the war and it has become, from their point of view, quite difficult to talk about something else to people.”
Can the presidential election be postponed because of the war in Ukraine?
“Could the presidential election be postponed ? “Asks Galade for his part.
Julie Marie-Leconte specifies that this was the case for the second round of the municipal elections in 2020 and for the departmental and regional elections last year but it was because of the covid. “For these elections, effectively, it was easy enough to postpone an election. It was enough to pass a law. For the presidential election, it’s much more complicated.specifies the journalist of the political service of franceinfo, because The Constitution provides for only one scenario: if a candidate is “impeded” (for example, if he is very ill or if he dies)”.
If we want to postpone for another reason, she points, “the constitution needs to be reformed.. This presupposes bringing together all the senators and all the deputies. This is called a Congress. And it is then necessary that all these deputies and senators vote by a three-fifths majority.
Could the war in Ukraine have an impact on the course of the presidential election in France?
Students also have questions about the potential impact of the war in Ukraine on the campaign and election process.
“Do you think the war in Ukraine could have an impact on the presidential election in France?” Maya asks. ” Is it true that the situation in Ukraine could change the French vote for the next president? adds Arthur
“It’s rather true, replies the political journalist, insofar as the war in Ukraine makes voters think, perhaps a little differently, about their choice and certain questions. The President of the Republic in France will also become the head of the armies and the head of diplomacy. “How different candidates view this role can matter, adds Julie Marie-Leconte.
“Just like ‘the how they analyze the conflict, its reasons, the solutions also that can be found to stop it. All this can be taken into account in the decision of the voters, as well as the responses that the various candidates give to the repercussions of the war in Ukraine on the lives of French people”.
Could cyberattacks disrupt the presidential election?
Alexandre has a question about the risks of cyberattack in this context of war in Ukraine.
“I saw that the presidential election would be threatened by fake news, cyberattacks and the conflict in Ukraine. What should we fear? “
Indeedreplies Julie Marie-Leconte, cyberattacks related to the conflict in Ukraine are feared. And at the same time, cyberattacks are a threat to the electoral process. Cornshe points out, we did not wait for the conflict for the question to be asked. Moreover, whether we are talking about fake news or digital attacks, there have already been some since 2017. Fake news is a threat in itself, when information is transformed, diverted, manipulated. False things, there are many circulating on social networks. And in 2017, it happened that hackers, for example, hacked and leaked the contents of campaign team mailboxes”.
The political journalist specifies that the government organized two major meetings with the campaign teams: one at the start of the school year and one last month, to make them aware of this threat and tell them that they had to protect themselves.
France has set up a new agency called Viginum, which normally has to try to identify attempts at cyberattacks, in particular, which could hinder the smooth running of the presidential campaign in France.
What can also intervene in a campaign are attacks using social networks to destabilize a candidate, by publishing false or partly false information in order to sow disorder, to force a political opponent to waste time to dismantle a rumor and therefore no longer have the same time to detail his ideas.