Jean Lassalle staged his abstention and filmed the scene, in violation of the electoral code which prohibits any discussion and any deliberation of the voters inside the polling stations.
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The National Commission for the Control of the Electoral Campaign for the Presidential Election (CNCCEP) seized the Constitutional Council after Jean Lassalle staged his abstention in the second round of the presidential election on Sunday, franceinfo learned from a close source. Monday, February 25, confirming information from RTL.
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A video posted on the Twitter and Facebook accounts of the presidential candidate eliminated in the first round shows him in his polling station in Lourdios-Ichère (Pyrénées-Atlantiques), village of 138 inhabitants of which he was mayor from 1977 to 2017. We see Jean Lassalle take the Emmanuel Macron and Marine Le Pen bulletins, get an envelope, go to the voting booth, then come out. As he is about to put the envelope in the ballot box, theatrically, he changes his mind and explains, addressing the audience: “For the first time in my life as a man, here in this town hall, I will perform one of the most important acts of my life. I refuse to participate in this vote, I abstain.” He then collected his ballot and returned the empty envelope to an assessor before leaving.
Once released, in a press conference in front of the town hall of Lourdios-IchereJean Lassalle explained his gesture by his “total disapproval” of the campaign as it unfolded. “Instead of abstaining at home, I came, I placed the envelope with the blank ballot that I had promised to put above the ballot box, and I did not put it”. He said to himself “aware” of the consequences of his act and assured that he would assume it. “Today, I am entering a form of political maquis”, he concluded.
However, article R48 of the electoral code establishes that the vote is “secret” and “all discussions and all deliberations of voters are prohibited inside the polling stations”. The president of the polling station is supposed to include in the minutes “any complaint from voters or delegates of candidates or lists, as well as the reasoned decisions taken by the office on the incidents which may have occurred”.
According to information from franceinfo, the Constitutional Council will deliver its opinion on this act on Wednesday, when it will deliver its general opinion on the presidential election which has just ended with the victory of Emmanuel Macron. Violation of the secrecy of the vote is punishable by a fine of 15,000 euros and/or one year’s imprisonment.