what do we know about this video denouncing the sending of supposedly “rigged” newsletters? – Liberation

A video relayed on social networks this Sunday, April 24 shows the presence of slightly torn ballots sent with the professions of faith before the second round of the presidential election.

Question asked by Emmanuelle on April 23

Hello,

You ask us about a video where we see a man open three professions of faith sent ahead of the second round of the 2022 presidential election. In each envelope, he explains, the ballot of the candidate of the National Rally, Marine Le Pen, is slightly torn, unlike that of Emmanuel Macron. Posted on YouTube on April 22, this video viewed nearly 15,000 times on Sunday afternoon was shared by Internet users inviting them to check the bulletins, some of which would be “rigged”.

“We had seen someone share his report a little torn on Facebook. Like us, we had not yet opened the envelopes, my husband, out of curiosity, told me to film opening them to see if it was true. They were torn, so he started the video [sur YouTube, ndlr]“, explains the wife of the author of the video, contacted by CheckNews. She assures that “lots of newsletterstorn were spotted around her near Romeries, where they live, in the North.

When contacted, the Nord prefecture indicated, after verification that “16 municipalities [sur 648, ndlr] of the North reported slightly damaged ballots among the documents sent home to the voter“. “This situation was brought to the attention of the chairman of the electoral operations control commission, who acknowledged receipt.“, we are told.

The voice of the North reported in an April 23 article that he had received multiple reports of “torn ballots“, without specifying whether it was those of a particular candidate. On Facebook, other Internet users have shared photos showing ballots for Marine Le Pen with the same style of tearing (without it being possible to say whether they were already damaged when they were opened). In comment, some people also indicate having received a bulletin for Emmanuel Macron torn. A social network user posted a photo of a Marine Le Pen bulletin, this time with a printing defect. “Be careful, a torn ballot even a millimeter is enough for it to be considered invalid“, warns a former candidate of the National Rally in the legislative and departmental elections, on Facebook.

For its part, the Ministry of the Interior, without commenting on the authenticity of the images showing torn and poorly printed ballots presented on social networks, explains to CheckNews that some ballots sent to voters may indeed have defects. “The production of ballot papers is a major operation – more than a billion for the first round and more than 200 million for the second – within very tight deadlines. During this production or during the subsequent enveloping operations, it is entirely possible that, from time to time, slips may have printing defects or be altered. This can occur especially when inserting is done mechanically.“, he says.

The assessment of the validity of a ballot is initially the responsibility of the president of the polling station.

Even if a ballot must not have any recognizable sign, “in this case, the very slight tear present on the edge of the slips or the marks linked to the printing in question should not constitute a cause of nullity», according to Beauvau.

The assessment of the validity of a ballot is initially the responsibility of the president of the polling station. “When some are declared null, they are annexed to the minutes (art L. 66 of the electoral code) and examined by the census commission (art. 25 of decree n°2001-213 of March 8, 2001) then by the Council constitutional. These provisions make it possible to ensure that the nullity is really characterized.explains the ministry before recalling that “in the event that the ballot present in the envelope presents a defect, the voter will always have the option of taking a new ballot which will be available to him in his polling station“.

Note that in 2017, the prefectures of Isère and Savoie, as a precaution, had recommended to voters not to use the ballots received in the professions of faith, if they were damaged. “In the Agde sector, residents report having received torn Le Pen ballot papers in their envelopes for the second round of the presidential election.“, had indicated Free lunch. After checking directly with residents of municipalities in the region, our colleagues had observed that “torn envelopes [étaient] very far from being observed everywheresince “none” of the interviewees had “noted an anomaly in his electoral envelope already received”.

Update of April 24: addition of the detailed response of the prefecture of the North after checking with the office of the elections.