Soissons, the first party is abstention

“When do we vote? “are still wondering, a few days before the first round, the inhabitants of Soissons, a pretty town nestled in a meander of the Aisne. One proof among many others of the lack of interest that the campaign arouses, contrary to what seemed to be an electoral law: the closer we approach the date of the election, the more it captivates. This time around, the surveys say, interest is falling from week to week. “Which, explains Jean-Yves Dormagen*, professor of political science, suggests a lower turnout . Around 70%, according to pollsters. With 30%, abstention would be the leading party in France. A record for a presidential. In 2017, 86% of registered voters voted, at least in one of the two rounds of voting.

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In Soissons, voters have long since turned away from the ballot box. In the last three elections, abstention exceeded the national average by 6 to 11 points. In the presidential elections of 2012 as in that of 2017, in the first round, they were 8% less voters than the average. Abstainers are recruited mainly from young people, the poorly qualified, low salaries, the unemployed, workers, those who feel “out of the game” or “not yet in it”, as Adrien, 22, tries to explain. student in Staps (sciences and techniques of physical and sports activities), met in the parking lot of a sports hall. In this election, where the chips seem to be made, abstention is the only unknown. And, depending on her level, she could prove the odds wrong.

In Soissons, all the ingredients of the abstentionist recipe are brought together. First capital of the kingdom of the Franks, built on a crucial passageway from the Middle Ages to Modern Times, this city of 28,000 inhabitants nevertheless has a glorious past. The beautiful buildings bear witness to this, such as the cathedral and many abbeys and churches, even if Soissons was more than 80% destroyed during the First World War. “A land steeped in history in a green setting”, announces Charles Marceau, director of the tourist office. A city in the Aisne, a department made up of odds and ends: one end eyeing the Île-de-France, another Picardy, a last Champagne, and a few kilometers border with Belgium. All “in the shape of a beetroot”, recalls Marc Delatte, the LREM deputy for the constituency. Before adding: “That’s good, we are the first producers in France. »

Abstention now hunts on the same lands as the National Rally

A fertile land, long industrial, renowned for its know-how in boilermaking, but which the crisis hit hard at the turn of this century. So, in Soissons, the Trente Glorieuses were followed by the Trente Piteuses. Businesses left, like the infantry regiment, and inequalities exploded. A third of the inhabitants live below the poverty line, and the unemployment rate is higher than the national average. The city is both aging and very young. Despite the “Route Charlemagne”, equipped with two dual carriageways, which runs towards Paris, despite the train which leads there in a good hour, for the neighboring villages, isolation dominates. So, like a rule from which there is no derogation, almost a natural law, abstention here breaks records.

In the parking lot of the commercial area of ​​​​the priority district of Chevreux, one of the three in the city, many do not know if they will vote. “I haven’t watched the programs yet,” excuses Marie-Anne. But more are those who have decided to abstain. “Why vote? asks Angélique, 34 years old. The games are already done. A mixture of fatalism and disinterest, mixed for some with a feeling of incompetence. “I don’t know enough about it,” says Benjamin, 32, a gym employee. But it is above all resignation, an often angry resignation, that we hear. “Everything increases, we have nothing left in the cart and it costs us 100 euros”, indignant Bruno, 60, who for a long time slipped a socialist ballot into the ballot box. “You work forty-two years of your life and, at the end, you are at 700 euros per month, he continues. The rich are getting richer and the poor are falling ever lower. But politicians don’t care. I will no longer vote. The difficult end of the month, the purchasing power which continues to fall, the price of fuel which flies away, the contempt of “France from above” for that “from below”, this is what fuel conversations.

“I’m not sure it’s worth going to a polling station, petrol is so expensive,” says Brice, who sells his vegetables on the market, with a half-smile. For lack of having updated their place of residence after a move, many have not received their voter card. They are not proud of it, but the lack of interest in the campaign also explains why they have “not found the time”, according to Laeticia, 42 years old: “I have always voted but, this time , no candidate stands out. As proof, the large number of blank ballots announced. “I vote for Laurent Blanc”, laughs a young man, sports bag on his back. Those will go “out of respect for those who fought for the right to vote,” says Florian, 20. But no candidate finds favor in their eyes. “There is a little bit of good to take from everyone, but above all 80% bad from everyone,” adds Hugo, 19. Marc Delatte analyzes: “We do not associate the French enough with public affairs. Not being listened to can lead to bitterness. »

Abstention now hunts on the same grounds as the National Rally, and in a system of communicating vessels, the higher it is, the lower the Le Pen vote. She is “our first enemy”, recognizes Jocelyn Dessigny, RN municipal councilor in Villers-Cotterêts, 20 kilometers from Soissons. “For a long time, adds RN Florian Demarcq, we did not suffer from it. On the contrary, even. But now it has a big impact on us. If we had not suffered as much during the regional and departmental, the results would have been quite different. Many of our supporters did not come. About fifteen buses with the effigy of Marine Le Pen travel the roads of France, in the hope of mobilizing them. In mid-March, one of them stopped in Soissons, where, among those who say they vote, a majority seems to favor the far-right candidate.

Fatalism and disinterest… Why vote? The games are already done

In 2017, in the first round of the presidential election, she came out on top with more than 27% of the vote, 7 points ahead of François Fillon and Emmanuel Macron. “Young people don’t vote, confirms Samira, 25, and the old ones are for Le Pen. “So, in this parking lot, some will only move “to counter the far right”, explains Thomas, 34. Other candidates could suffer from abstention, in particular Jean-Luc Mélenchon, who also attracts the working classes. The “caravans” of the Insoumis crisscross the neighborhoods to “help register the 11 million French people who are not registered or incorrectly registered on the electoral lists” and “convince the abstainers and the resigned that a another world is possible. In Soissons, Marie-Laure Compin-Dubus, an activist, claims to have convinced “7 or 8” people to register thanks to her door-to-door visits.

Probably not enough to prove the polls wrong. Because, beyond the structural elements, the ingredients necessary for a mobilizing vote are all lacking: “For an election to attract, explains Jean-Yves Dormagen, the campaign must be of high intensity, that it be mediated, dramatized, and that many have their chance. “Today, it is quite the opposite: the pandemic and the war have taken everything away, the presidential election rarely opens the television news and the French have the feeling that the ballot is decided in advance. “In addition, the winner is the outgoing one, adds the political scientist. It is not disruptive. “The inhabitants are not in it”, confirms Alain Crémont, the various right mayor of Soissons.

At the social center in the priority district of Presles, where 6,000 people live, Virginie Edange-Bréant, the director, has not yet lost hope. “If the inhabitants do not speak politics, they are very involved in the user committees, in local life”, she says. The city is changing. The former capital of the Franks benefits from the “heart of the city” programme, as evidenced by the numerous works in progress. It has obtained the “educational city” label, and industrial wastelands have been rehabilitated into “industrial territories”, or “turnkey”, offering advantages to companies setting up there. New sports equipment has come out of the ground; the mayor, who has sanctuarized the budgets devoted to education, culture, sport, hopes that one day, not so far away, the train will link Soissons to Roissy, 76 kilometers away. “We’re back on the radar,” he says proudly. The city is changing. Soon, perhaps before the first round, he will encourage his constituents to go to the polls. This close friend of Xavier Bertrand could even call to vote Emmanuel Macron. While waiting for better days, which in Soissons we hope to finally be close. 

* “The democracy of abstention”, of Jean-Yves Dormagen and Céline Braconnier, ed. Gallimard.