Many candidates will be rejected at the beginning of March in the race for the presidential election, for lack of sponsorship from local elected officials. A dysfunction of our democratic system? A YouGov survey for Internet users looks into the question.
Can a leading political figure – like Jean-Luc Mélenchon or Marine Le Pen – really be deprived of a candidacy for the presidential election if he fails to collect 500 sponsorships from local elected officials? It is very clear: yes, and the rule will not change for this 2022 presidential election. This hypothesis raises the question – which is not new – of the disconnection between the representativeness of political movements, the weight and the establishment local political parties, and the presidential ambitions of all candidates. Should we therefore put an end to the sponsorship system? A YouGov poll carried out for Linternaute reveals that the French are divided on the subject.
To the question “in your opinion, is the system of sponsorship of elected officials, which validates a candidacy for the presidential election, necessary, or not, for the functioning of democracy in France?”, 36% answer yes (14 % “yes, absolutely”; 22% “yes, rather”), 46% answer no (29% “no, not really”; 17% “no, not at all”) and 18% say they don’t know.
The French severe with the small-candidates
According to our poll, the French are more likely to think that toddler candidates should not be able to run if they do not obtain the required endorsements from local elected officials. Thus, for 56% of French people, candidates credited with less than 3% of voting intentions “should not be able to stand” in the presidential election if they do not obtain the 500 signatures of elected officials. 30% believe on the contrary that these candidates should still be able to compete (14% answer “don’t know”) for the highest office.
On the other hand, respondents provide a more contrasting response about candidates having more resonance in public opinion. 42% of French people believe that the candidates credited with more than 3% of the voting intentions – and having not collected the 500 sponsorships – should give up the presidential election. 44% (slightly more) think that these candidates should still be able to present themselves. 19% say they have no opinion on the matter.
Methodology: the survey was carried out among 1,007 people representative of the French national population aged 18 and over. The survey was conducted online, on the YouGov France proprietary panel from February 16 to 17, 2022. To find out more about this study, contact YouGov here