Perhaps you will not find thirty-eight different ballots in your polling station on Sunday June 9, during the European elections. Especially if you vote in an overseas territory or in certain departments of France.
In France, printing ballot papers is the responsibility of the candidates. However, of the thirty-eight lists which officially claim seats in the European Parliament, not all have the same financial capacities. The least well-off are all the more careful about their expenses as only lists gathering more than 3% of the votes will obtain reimbursement of their campaign costs. This is why several of them are choosing to print only a limited number of ballots and prefer to call on their voters – via their websites, social networks and press releases – to print theirs before going to the polls.
“We do not have the means to print ballots for all voters, nor would we even have had the time to do so if we had had the financial means,” assumes Charles Hoareau, Marseille CGT activist involved in the defense of the unemployed and head of the list of the National Association of Communists. A certain number of ballots, the quantity of which has not been specified, will however be printed and available at polling stations. “We targeted the two hundred largest municipalities in the territory [sur près de 35 000] », Reports Mr. Hoareau.
“Exorbitant” delivery costs
The Pirate Party, whose list did not obtain any elected officials in 2019, is also targeting certain departments that are more strategic than others. “We chosei [ceux] dyears in which we performed well in the last elections, but also [ceux dans] which we have militant forces capable of managing certain logistical aspects, in conjunction with the prefectures which receive the ballots, explains François Tabuteau, the party spokesperson. A map specifying the departments supplied was made available to voters.
Created in 2021, the ecological party Equinoxe, for its part, chose to print 5 million ballot papers distributed in proportion to the number of registered voters. The quantity will therefore vary depending on the departments. The party reasoned as follows: “We were budgetarily constrained to only purchase around 5 million ballots, [dont le coût total revient] at €55,000. We believe that a small proportion of voters take all the ballots, including ours, on the day [du vote]. Taking into account the expected abstention, if less than 20% of participants take an Equinoxe bulletin, then there will even be some left at the end of the day. » However, the party does not rule out shortages and therefore also asks its voters to print their ballots if they can.
The Animalist Party, led by Hélène Thouy, who obtained 2.16% of the votes in the previous elections, as well as the New Anticapitalist Party (NPA) – Revolutionaries and its head of the list Selma Labib, a 28-year-old bus driver, ensure that their ballots will be present in all polling stations in mainland France, but will be missing in the overseas territories, with the exception of Reunion. In question: “shipping costs way too high”, even “exorbitant”. The NPA-Revolutionaries regrets that this introduces “besides an inequality” and asks: “What right do some voters have less choice than others? »
Print a compliant ballot
These DIY ballots are available for download from the websites of the parties concerned. But, warns the Animalist Party, in the event that ballots are available in a polling station, “homemade” should not be preferred. This in order to“avoid any risk of invalidation” of the vote.
Indeed, precise rules are imposed on voters who wish to print their ballot. And if the latter does not respect the required provisions, it will be considered void. The bulletin must be printed on a white A4 sheet, in landscape format, double-sided. The weight of the sheet must be between 70 and 80 grams and only one color of ink is allowed.
Faced with the sensitivity of the operation, certain territories are taking the lead. The commune of Saint-Germain-lès-Corbeil in Essonne (Essonne) has thus warned that the ballots for seventeen lists will be printed directly by voters. She further emphasizes that “the ballot must be identical to that validated by the national propaganda commission or delivered directly to the polling stations. The president of the polling station has a validated model to ensure the conformity of the ballots found in the ballot box.” As long as these documents do not contain a handwritten note, these bulletins are valid.
Furthermore, a voter cannot print ballots in bulk to make them available to others. The Essonne commune recalls that “only a duly authorized representative of the list can submit ballot papers to the mayor or the president of the polling station”.