PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION 2022. On April 10 and 24, the French will vote to elect the next President of the Republic. Can we slip in a blank ballot? Is this choice taken into account?
On Sundays April 10 and 24, the French are invited to go to the polls to elect the next President of the Republic. As with every election, all French citizens over the age of 18 will be able to express themselves by voting for a particular candidate. One question remains: can we do our civic duty without having to position ourselves for a particular candidate? The answer is yes. There is a special vote for this category of voters: the blank vote. To do this, simply slip a ballot without any candidate’s name, or simply drop an empty envelope into the ballot box. This act makes it clear that you wanted to go to your polling station but that the political offer does not suit you.
However, it should be borne in mind that the blank vote is totally different from abstention (absence of a vote) and invalid vote (not valid, when the ballot paper or the envelope does not comply with the prescribed standards): since the law of February 21, 2014 aimed at recognizing the blank vote in elections, in fact, blank ballots are officially counted. On the other hand, they are not counted in the votes cast which alone are taken into account in the result of the election.
Voting white is not so simple
Attention, for your vote to be considered as a blank vote, there are several things to avoid: deposit several ballots in the envelope, put a scribbled or torn ballot or even a document that is not an official ballot . We can then believe in an error and your vote will be considered invalid.
Towards a reform of the blank vote?
In accordance with the law of 21 February 2014 aimed at recognizing blank votes in elections, “blank ballots are counted separately and attached to the minutes.” It is made “special mention in the results of the polls.” Blank ballots are not officially provided. Thus, voters who wish to use them must bring them with them. Article 1 of the 2014 law provides that “an envelope containing no ballot is assimilated to a blank ballot.” Furthermore, theArticle L.49 of the Electoral Code states that “the distribution of blank ballots by private individuals is prohibited on polling day.”
Are we moving towards a reform of the taking into account of the blank vote? Remember, shortly after the Yellow Vests crisis, Emmanuel Macron opened the door, integrating the subject into the great national debate. Neither the actual counting of the white vote nor the famous RIC, the citizens’ initiative referendum, was finally retained at the end of the debates, on the contrary of a significant proportional share in the legislative elections or the drop in the number of parliamentarians.