The services of its president Laurent Fabius did not record more signatures from mayors than in 2017.
It is 8 a.m., the La Poste van parks at the corner of rue Montpensier, in front of the Constitutional Council. This morning, only one “crate”. Inside, 245 letters. The Secretary General of the Council, Jean Maïa, assures us, there were much busier mornings, up to 9 or 10 crates. Letters sent from the four corners of France by some of the 42,000 elected officials and containing their sponsorship for one of the candidates for the presidential election. A free method is used to stamp the letters to validate their conformity and their good reception. A noise heard almost as far as the street. Upstairs, several people are also present to process these precious signatures. Each letter is opened, then stored in a locker in the name of a candidate. Today, among the presidential candidates who have not yet had their 500 sponsorships, it is Jean-Luc Mélenchon who has the thickest pile.
Some advocate the idea of citizen sponsorship
The very conventional aspect of the process sometimes leaves room for surprises. Elected officials send the completed letter, but without any candidate names. The goal ? “Avoiding pressure by being able to say ‘it’s good, I sent’”, according to the secretary general. Once the sponsorships have been sorted by candidate, other people are responsible for checking whether there is a spelling problem or a hitch on a name, while checking that each box on the form is correctly filled in. Elected officials, in the grip of stress, are mistaken… in their own date of birth. An error that has occurred several times, according to Jean Maïa. Such a great burden for the elect? Some advocate the idea of citizen sponsorship, as in most countries that practice elections by universal suffrage. The arbitrator of the Constitutional Council is not against it but issues two warnings. First, it reforms at the start of the five-year term. Then, it would be necessary to ensure that a citizen who sponsors a candidate online is behind his screen. One might think the institution disconnected from the Internet. In reality, the sages update twice a week the evolution of sponsorships on their site.
Also read.500 sponsorships of elected officials for the presidential election: a French exception
Ten days before the end of the period for sending forms, the Council received 9,000. “In 2017, 14,296 elected officials had sponsored a candidate. We expect to finish in the same proportions on March 4,” says Jean Maïa. On the other hand, concerning the establishment of the bank of sponsorships of François Bayrou, Laurent Fabius, the president of the Constitutional Council, remains skeptical: “The sponsorship of a mayor must be individual. It is the elected officials who sponsor. He will announce the list of candidates for the presidential election on March 7.
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