A validation, but penalties of ineligibility. The Council of State validated, Tuesday January 11, the municipal election of 2020 in the 6th sector of Marseille, marked by a case of questionable proxies revealed by France 2. It however annulled the election of three elected members of the Les party Republicans, including the former mayor Julien ravier, who has since become a Member of Parliament, declaring them ineligible for one year. Ruled out at first instance by the administrative court of Marseille, the cancellation was notably requested by the head of the Marseille Spring list, a large left-wing alliance which had won the central town hall of Marseille, after twenty-five years of Jean-Claude’s reign. Gaudin (LR), despite his defeat in this sector.
According to the Council of State, “Fraudulent maneuvers for the benefit of Mr. Ravier’s list could not”, taking into account in particular the number of disputed proxy votes concerned (116 in the second round), “have an impact on the results of the elections” in this sector of the east of Marseille, which includes the 11th and 12th arrondissements. In the second round, on June 28, 2020, the LR list led by Julien Ravier was 352 votes ahead of that of the Printemps Marseillais led by Yannick Ohanessian.
On the other hand, Julien Ravier and two of his running mate, Magali Devouge and Joëlle di Quirico, are declared ineligible. They are suspected of having established fraudulent proxies, in particular in a retirement home in the 12th arrondissement where several residents, sometimes senile, had voted without their knowledge. The case had been revealed by France 2. A criminal investigation is in progress on this file and it is in view of a report of the judicial police on these dubious proxies that the Council of State decided to cancel the election of the former mayor of the 6th sector and his two running mate.
“It results from the instruction” that Julien Ravier “had knowledge of the maneuvers” committed by his entourage during this election “and that he encouraged them”, specifies the Council of State, and the three elected officials have “carried out maneuvers of a fraudulent nature intended to undermine the sincerity of the election”. “In view of the seriousness of these maneuvers”, the magistrates considered that it was necessary to declare them “ineligible for a period of one year”. Julien Ravier, who became a deputy in October 2020 as a substitute for Valérie Boyer (LR), after she was elected to the Senate, will therefore not be able to stand for re-election in the legislative elections of June 2022.