A municipal election canceled because of a "dancing tea"

The town hall of Grand-Fort-Philippe, in the North.

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The “dancing tea” turns into a fiasco.

The administrative court (TA) of Lille announced on Wednesday that it had declared the cancellation of the municipal elections held on March 15 in Grand-Fort-Philippe, near Dunkirk, in the North.

The outgoing mayor (SE) Sony Clinquart was narrowly reelected in the first round, with only 17 votes behind the absolute majority.

This election had been contested "by the two elected officials who led the two competing lists of the list of the outgoing mayor", recalls the TA, in a press release.

Unjustified anticipation of an inauguration

Two events leading up to the election caught the court's attention.

He ruled, first of all, that “the public inauguration, relayed by the local press, of a new district under construction was due to the remarks made on this occasion by the candidate and the unjustified anticipation of this inauguration of a campaign to promote the achievements of the community, banned in the six months preceding the election ”.

The court then held that "the organization, by the municipality, four weeks before the election, of a 'dancing tea', the entry of which was, for the first time, free, constituted an advantage granted to the candidate who won the elections. elections, likely to influence voters ”.

According to

, Sony Clinquart did not seize the State Council to contest this decision.

He will therefore remain mayor for another month, the time to organize a new ballot.

He risks finding against him, Joël Desmazières, the opponent (DVG) he had narrowly beaten in the first round.

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• Cancellation

• Court

• Municipal elections

• Mayor

• Lille