how “small parties” manage to finance their campaigns

From the profession of faith, to electoral posters, to the ballot papers to be slipped into the envelope on D-day, campaign costs are the responsibility of the candidates. A formality for the big parties, but a real obstacle for the smaller lists.

This is the home stretch of the campaign for the European elections, which take place in France on Sunday June 9. 38 lists are in the race and must pay large sums for their professions of faith, their electoral posters and their ballots. No problem for big parties who have the budget and well-oiled machinery. This is less obvious for small lists, which do not necessarily have the means to pay these sums.

For Caroline Zorg, head of the Pirate Party list for the European elections, it is not easy to campaign on a limited budget. We therefore had to make choices: no profession of faith sent to homes and ballot papers printed for only around fifteen departments. “For around fifteen departments it’s around 60,000 euros and it’s 27 tonnes of paper. Which means that you have to print your ballot on bulletinpirate.org to be able to go with it to the office,” she explains.

Home printing, a D system with which Nathalie Arthaud, head of the Lutte Ouvrière list, does not agree at all: “It’s so restrictive. What are you going to ask people to go and print on 80 gram paper, this color, do you see the problem?” Nathalie Arthaud therefore chose to print her ballot papers. They are sent at the same time as professions of faith, and available in half of the offices.

“We try to run a campaign as cheaply as possible, which is complicated when you actually have to pay for all the materials. The biggest cost is the ballots and professions of faith, that adds up to two million euros for a national campaign like this.”

Nathalie Arthaud, head of the Workers’ Struggle list

at franceinfo

At Rural Alliance, the list of Jean Lassalle and Willy Schraen, the ballots are in all polling stations but also sent to homes. The rest depends on the support of the Rural Alliance, explains Charles-Henri Bachelier, the campaign director. “We have activists who are ready to get up early to put up posters, who take their free time to go to the markets, to tow in mailboxes. They are also people who are very motivated and who do donations that allow us to finance our campaign”, he testifies.

The rule is that only lists having collected 3% of the votes cast will be able to have their campaign expenses reimbursed. To save money, the Pirate Party led by Caroline Zorg is therefore campaigning in favor of a single ballot where the voter would only have to check their choice, as is already done in the Netherlands. During the previous European elections, in 2019, only 8 lists out of 34 had reached the 3% threshold, and had their campaign expenses reimbursed.