Laurent Jaoul, in his town hall in Saint-Brès. - Office of the mayor of Saint-Brès

  • Laurent Jaoul, mayor of Saint-Brès, has filed an appeal before the administrative court of Montpellier to request the cancellation of the municipal elections.
  • However, the city councilor was elected, alone in the running, in the first round of voting on March 15.
  • It does not feel legitimate, and denounces "a real masquerade".

"It's a real masquerade! »Laurent Jaoul is not fooling. The mayor of Saint-Brès (Hérault), a municipality of 3,000 inhabitants east of Montpellier, requests the outright cancellation of the last municipal elections. The elected official filed Monday morning an appeal to this effect, before the administrative court.

For him, the poll of March 15, organized while the epidemic of Covid-19 was already raging, poses a problem of "sincerity". "The day before the election, the Prime Minister announced to the French that they should stay at home, closing cafes and restaurants, shops, and schools ... Transformed into polling stations! And, in town hall, we had letters from the Ministry of the Interior telling us that we had to hold this election, but that measures had to be taken with regard to fragile people, and over 70s. And that if these people showed symptoms, they wanted to call the Samu. It's not serious, it's really anything. "

⚖ Despite the election of my list, I have just filed with the Administrative Court of #Montpellier the appeal to cancel the first round of the municipal elections in # SaintBrès. @JeanMarcMAILLOT @MLMontpellier @bleuherault @ F3Languedoc @PutschMedia @ GazetteLive34 @myMetropolitain pic.twitter.com/972F5q6WLe

- Laurent Jaoul (@laurentjaoul) April 6, 2020

He himself did not vote, "for the first time"

Many other mayors in France have urged the state to cancel the poll. But Laurent Jaoul has a peculiarity: on March 15, alone in the running, he was elected in the first round. But few residents of Saint-Brès made the trip that day to the polls: out of 2,424 registered on the electoral lists, only 419 voted, including 330 for the mayor. The rest voted blank or their ballots were counted as void.

It must be said that the day before, on social networks, Laurent Jaoul had called his constituents to skip the ballot, and to stay at home. "It has been widely heard," notes the elected official, who points to the 82% abstention in his municipality. He himself, "for the first time" in his life, he says, did not vote, although he was present at the polling station. "It is absolutely not representative of the electoral body of Saint-Brès, there is a real problem of sincerity on this ballot," assures the councilor. With the colleagues of the municipal council, we have a real problem of legitimacy. "

Following the latest declarations from @ EPhilippePM and because the maintenance of the elections worries our fellow citizens, I call on the voters of # SaintBrès not to go to the polling stations this Sunday. # RESTEZCHEZVOUS @myMetropolitain @bleuherault @MLMontpellier @ F3Languedoc pic.twitter.com/pBFokfyLhx

- Laurent Jaoul (@laurentjaoul) March 14, 2020

"I can even lose the election! "

It may seem surprising to file an appeal to cancel the vote when you are elected. And when you are alone in the running, and you enjoy a broad political base in your municipality, it may even seem a bit easy ... "Some people say that I do this because I am alone," answers Laurent Jaoul. But I remind you that, in the event that the administrative judge decides to summon the voters again for new elections, competing lists may arise. The cards are shuffled. I can even redo my list! I can even lose the election! Or lose city councilors if I have competitors, and my majority could be reduced. "Even if, concedes the mayor of Saint-Brès, he" does not worry much about that side ".

"Laurent Jaoul wants, through his personal case, to question the sincerity of the election," explains Montpellier political scientist Michel Crespy to 20 Minutes . A sincere election is when everyone can express themselves without constraint. He considers, like a certain number of jurists, that this municipal election is not, that people could not speak, because we recommended at the same time to vote and to stay at home. And, notes the political scientist, if the election is declared non-compliant in Saint-Brès, it risks being so everywhere. "If Laurent Jaoul ever obtains a judgment in his favor, all those who believe that the first round did not do them justice will also rush to file appeals," said Michel Crespy.

Read our Municipal files 2020

For the moment, due to the many uncertainties surrounding the Covid-19 epidemic, it is unclear what sauce the municipal elections will be eaten. Will we vote in June? In October ? Or are we heading towards elections coupled with regional ones? Nothing is stopped. And nothing says whether the lists still in the running will be maintained, or whether it will be necessary to go back to the box of the 1st round and whether others will be able to enter the race. But there is "no question of returning to the results" of 30,143 municipalities (out of approximately 35,000 in France) who appointed their mayor in the first round, said on April 2 Edouard Philippe, on TF1. Unless justice gets involved.

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  • Languedoc-Roussillon
  • Elections
  • Containment
  • Covid 19
  • Coronavirus
  • Municipal
  • Montpellier