The French are increasingly shunning the ballot box. The regional meetings of June 2021 also constituted a record of abstention for a vote outside the referendum, since more than two in three French people chose to bypass this election in the first round. To fight against this scourge, the President of the National Assembly, Richard Ferrand, launched in the wake of this election an information mission on abstention.
Composed of 26 members from all political groups, this mission, led by LREM deputy Stéphane Travert and LR deputy Xavier Breton, must vote, Wednesday, December 8, behind closed doors, on the 28 recommendations they formulate, before transmitting their conclusions to Richard Ferrand, a few months before the presidential election. Will they be applied from April 2022? There are still many conditions to be met for this to be the case. “IWe must first see if this requires a legislative or regulatory change, and then see with the Ministry of the Interior if this is technically possible, explains Stéphane Travert. Finally, we must look at whether, in the parliamentary agenda, we have the capacity or the possibility of making a bill “.
Franceinfo unveils the ideas of these parliamentarians to encourage the French to return to the polling stations.
Facilitate the movement of voters to polling stations
This is one of the major axes of the information mission tracks. It thus proposes a revolution by allowing “to all voters to vote in the municipality of their choice, on the occasion of the presidential and European elections, as well as in the referendums, by relying on the single electoral register”. Clearly, if you are on vacation, you can vote in your resort. Another idea: “Organize automatic registration on the electoral list of the municipality of the new place of residence in the event of a move”.
“We realize that citizens do not come to vote because they stayed at their old address. This system must be improved.”
Stéphane Travert, LREM deputyto franceinfo
Two proposals also relate to proxies. The deputies of the mission would thus wish “generalize the ability to establish two proxies for all national, local and European elections” and “facilitate the establishment of powers of attorney by the possibility of obtaining them via a videoconference system or via postmen, avoiding a trip to a police station, a gendarmerie or a court”.
Parliamentarians also evoke the possibility of “set up a public transport service for people in a situation of dependency on the day of the vote”.
Better inform citizens about the issues of voting
We remember, for the 2021 regional, the controversy around the poor distribution of electoral letters before the first round. Tens of thousands of French people had not received the professions of faith from the candidates. To avoid ending up in such a situation, the mission proposes to “allow the dematerialized distribution of electoral propaganda, by e-mail or on a particular application, while maintaining the distribution of voting material to each voter”. Another idea: “Better inform citizens by means of a campaign on the electoral procedure, mobilizing various media (radio, television, press, internet and social networks), as well as on the skills and role of the institution which is being renewed”.
Experiment with advance, postal and internet voting
Could we vote other than in a polling station? This is a subject that comes up every time abstention breaks records. The information mission responds to this through experimentation. It offers, for example,“to experiment with postal voting and internet voting during upcoming local elections or local initiative referendums, in voluntary municipalities”.
In the same vein, she suggests to“to experiment in a territorialized way the advance polling”. Finally, the deputies want “pursue the development of systems allowing, in the long term, to consider online voting for national elections, as well as cyber defense capacities”.
“There is work to be done on how we could have total security, to get to the bottom of it, we have to experiment with it in areas that request it for local elections or local initiative referendums” , complete Stéphane Travert.
Better supervise surveys
Polls, and particularly during this pre-presidential campaign, have become increasingly important in public debate. The deputies make two proposals on this subject. First of all, “make better known and disseminate the opinions, updates and press releases of the Polling Commission”, but also “ban the communication of opinion polls one week before the first round of all elections, and before the second round for the presidential election.” At present, it is not possible to broadcast polls during the 24 hours preceding an election.
Encourage citizens to participate in the poll on polling day
Citizens are not only voters, they can also be actors in an election. This is in essence the message of the fact-finding mission, which wishes “invite the people newly registered on the electoral lists to hold a polling station, half a day, during the first ballot organized after their registration”.
Another more coercive measure this time: “To draw lots for the citizen assessors who may be required to hold the polling stations”. To solemnize the vote, the deputies finally propose to “systematize the delivery of electoral cards to young adults during citizenship ceremonies”. “It is the return of the citizen courses, we hope that there is in all town halls of France a ceremony for the delivery of voter cards “, explains Stéphane Travert.