Ophélie Artaud with AFP / Photo credit: Riccardo Milani / Hans Lucas / Hans Lucas via AFP
D-13. The countdown is on before the European elections on June 9. The 38 lists have been submitted and registered in the Official Journal and this Monday, the elections enter a new phase with the start of the official campaign. That’s all that changes.
Signposts
Since Monday morning, campaign posters from the 38 lists have been installed on billboards in front of the polling stations of the 36,000 French municipalities. This is an obligation for municipalities.
The number of each list was assigned by drawing lots. The list “For a Sovereign Humanity” thus benefits from panel number one. The RN list obtained panel 5, that of the majority on the 11th, that of the socialists on the 27th.
Professions of faith
Since midnight, the professions of faith provided by the lists have been available on the website of the Ministry of the Interior and Overseas Territories. They are also presented in the order of the draw. Voters have the possibility of consulting them in full version, or in an “easy to read and understand” version, explains the ministry. It is also possible to listen to them.
These professions of faith will also be sent by June 5 to the 48 million French voters.
Country spots
From this Tuesday, May 28, public service television and radio channels will broadcast the campaign spots of the different candidates. These videos, of a maximum duration of three minutes, were produced by the various lists and validated by Arcom, the audiovisual regulator.
Principle of “equity” for speaking time
The rule of the principle of “equity” in speaking time will in particular be taken into account for campaign spots. Concretely, since April 15, television and radio stations have been required to respect a principle of fairness in the treatment of political forces, by counting the speaking time of the different lists.
Unlike the presidential election where there is a principle of strict equality, for the European elections, Arcom takes into account the “representativeness” of the lists. This depends “on the results obtained during the last general renewal of the European Parliament and in the most recent elections”, but also on “opinion polls” and the contribution to “animating the electoral debate”.
For example, RN campaign spots could be broadcast for 1 hour 1 minute and 35 seconds. Conversely, small lists, like Lutte Ouvrière, will only be allowed 3 minutes and 9 seconds.
Reserve period
From this Monday, the executive and state services, such as the prefects, are required to respect an “electoral reserve period”. A republican tradition which is not enshrined in law. It notably forces ministers and prefects not to make communications, particularly announcements.
The official campaign will end on Friday June 7 at midnight. The day before and the day of the election, candidates will no longer be able to speak in the media and the publication of polls will be prohibited so as not to influence voters’ votes.