In Asia, polling stations in French embassies opened before those located in mainland France, on Sunday June 30. More voters participated in the first round of the legislative elections compared to the first round of the European elections, on June 9, at the same time.
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The French in Asia began voting in the early legislative elections a few hours before those in mainland France, on Sunday, June 30. In China, for example, at the French embassy in Beijing, voters had not turned out in large numbers by midday, but participation was still up compared to the European elections, thanks to online voting.
Among the first voters to appear, Sunday June 30, at 9 a.m., in front of the gates of the embassy, Alexandre, 47 years old. He has worked in China in cinema for fifteen years. This year is the very first year that he has voted: it is the unprecedented political context that pushed him to travel. “It’s important today to put your paper where you need it. To make the right decision. For me, it’s not easy. I don’t follow politics at all”, he confides.
Like every year at this time, many expatriates have already returned to France for the summer holidays. But many voters still wanted to carry out their civic duty. Internet voting was a great success, explains Consul General Guillaume Roy. “We have 500 electronic voters counted, which is a little less than a third of the electoral list. This partly explains why there are not many people this morning“, he explains.
Jacques insisted on coming physically. “It’s my duty as a citizen to travel! I don’t do that online. And then, I don’t have confidence in online voting…” he explains. Noémie, too, traveled with her two daughters: “It’s important to come with my daughters to show them the homework. We’ll be there next week too.”
In the courtyard of the embassy, some voters arrived at the polling station with their suitcases, just before boarding the plane. And, given the importance of this election, some even changed their plans. “A lot of friends were taken by surprise and had to organize themselves. Those who were in the process of buying a plane ticket for the return preferred to postpone their trip because it was a completely different election. decisive”, confirms Albert, one of the assessors.
At midday, participation was up compared to the European elections on June 9. 630 voters had cast their ballots in Beijing around noon, including Internet voting, compared to 240 voters at the same time during the European elections.