- After a first vote already turned upside down by the coronavirus, the second round of municipal elections was again marked by record abstention, at 58.4%, according to figures released by the Interior Ministry on Monday.
- 20 Minutes asked Jean Chiche, researcher at Cevipof, about this record of abstention.
A new democratic slap. Three months after a first vote already turned upside down by the coronavirus, the second round of the municipal elections was again marked on Sunday by a record abstention, at 58.4% nationwide. Despite health precautions, a large majority of French people did not go to the polls. Can we explain this low participation by the fear of being contaminated by the epidemic? We talk about it with Jean Chiche, researcher at Cevipof (Sciences Po Political Research Center).
At what level is the abstention rate?
It is a historic record, for municipal, it is obvious, we have never seen such high levels. More generally, the only elections that have had a comparable score since 1958 are the Europeans of 2014, with 57.57%, or those of 2009, with 59.37%. It should be noted that on Sunday, there were only 5,000 municipalities to be filled, which represents around 38% of the electorate, and in these cities, the abstention rate was already 57.5% in the first round.
What is atypical and abnormal is the progression of abstention. In general, in large cities, we notice rather a progression of 2 to 3 points between the two towers. There, it was the opposite in many cities, in Lille, Strasbourg, Bordeaux, Lille, Toulouse…. In principle, the municipal level is the one that the French prefer, so it is an incredible abstention. This is the highlight of this second round, before the green wave of environmentalists.
How to explain it?
In the first round, part of the voters feared to move, because the coronavirus was not well known. The cafes had closed the day before, it was not very encouraging. We can also say that the electoral act is a repetitive act. When we give our opinion in the first round, we like to give it in the second. There, one can imagine that the repetitive act also played in the fact of not going to vote. But the coronavirus is not enough to explain this historical abstention.
Jean-Luc Mélenchon spoke yesterday of "a civic strike" and "a form of cold insurrection against all the institutions of the country". It is distrust of the political class that we find in all our surveys. We were already talking about strikes at the polls in the 1990s with the steady rise in abstention. But what is new here is the intensity of the phenomenon. And that this distrust applies against the mayor, the traditionally preferred elected official of the French.
According to several polls, part of the French interviewed a few days earlier did not know that there was an election in their commune. How to explain it?
This is not surprising because everyone today learns in different ways, especially through social networks, everyone stays in their bubble. People have also learned to zap information they don't think is useful: when they see a political headline, they zap, without being interested. And the particular campaign linked to Covid-19 did not create the usual link between the political offer and the voters.
Do we know who the abstainers are?
There is no investigation on the second round yet, so it's best not to go ahead. But I have the feeling that there were three France on Sunday: A disillusioned and distrustful France, majority, which went on strike at the polls, and whose political color is unknown. A France of small towns, which voted in the first round, and confirmed the outgoing mayors PS and LR in the medium-sized municipalities. And a metropolitan France which voted mainly for environmentalists.
If we look at the history of voting in France, we notice a desire to include more and more French people (end of the censorship regime, vote of women, lowering to 18 years ...) but paradoxically, for several years, the More and more French people are losing interest in it…
Part of the French feel excluded, believing that elected officials do not keep their promises. It is a failure of the institutions, perhaps that the Fifth Republic has had its day, that the majority system also has two rounds. It is time to question our democratic system to better integrate proportional, for example, or add participatory democracy ... We must find other forms that allow citizens to feel better represented, make them want to participate again in debate.
Municipal
Results of the municipal elections: Record abstention, green wave… What to remember from the second round?
Elections
Municipal results: Olivier Faure "ready" to line up behind an environmental candidate in 2022
- Covid 19
- Elections
- Municipal
- Abstention
- Coronavirus