The "popular primary", one of the symptoms of the difficulties of the left in the presidential campaign, took shape on Sunday January 23, with a total of 467,000 registered, at the start of a week which will see all the candidates launch concretely their race for sponsorships.

Voters, who had until midnight Sunday to register, are invited to vote from January 27 to 30 to designate, among seven personalities on the left, the one who will be supported by the primary.

>> To (re) read also: "Presidential: what is the majority judgment used by the popular Primary?"

"Our initial objective was to outnumber the Republican primary (140,000). We are surprised by this figure. It shows the enthusiasm of left-wing voters and ecology," said AFP. one of the organizers of the primary, Mathilde Imer. 

"It is the biggest process of deciding between candidates in France, it cannot be ignored," she adds.

The left currently has five main presidential candidates (Jean-Luc Mélenchon, Yannick Jadot, Anne Hidalgo, Fabien Roussel and Christiane Taubira), without anyone being able to compete with the rights and Emmanuel Macron for the first round. of the presidential election on April 10.

>> To (re) see: "Race at the Élysée: can a divided left still weigh?"

Registrations to vote have accelerated in recent days, allowing this initiative to assert itself far superior to the environmentalist primary in September (122,000), that of the Republicans in early December (nearly 140,000) or the militant sponsorships of Jean -Luc Melenchon (260,000).

But three of the seven candidates refused to recognize the result of the vote: Jean-Luc Mélenchon, Yannick Jadot and Anne Hidalgo, and find themselves involved in the ballot despite themselves.

>> To (re) read also: "Presidential: in Nantes, Jean-Luc Mélenchon appeals to the senses and traces his route alone"

Former Minister of Justice Christiane Taubira – declared a presidential candidate only a week ago – and three lesser candidates, MEP Pierre Larrouturou and two people from civil society, Charlotte Marchandise and Anna Agueb-Porterie, said they would abide by the results.

"The games are open. This vote will take place, with an electoral body that we do not know, but which represents all the families and the tendencies of the left", assures Samuel Grzybowski, another organizer, who believes that "it can create momentum.

With AFP

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