The message fell into the mailboxes of Renaissance members on the evening of Thursday June 20. Subject: “Vote twice”. Faced with the influx of “thousands of requests for proxies from supporters”, the majority party invites those who can to register on their site as a proxy, in order to be able to record as many votes as possible for the presidential camp during the upcoming legislative elections on June 30 and July 7.
Weakened by the dissolution of the National Assembly announced by Emmanuel Macron on the evening of June 9, Renaissance assures that the proxies are “so many votes for the presidential majority which will be lost if we do not find anyone to carry them”. It must be said that the president’s speech took many French people by surprise. More than a million proxies have been registered for the upcoming legislative elections, according to the latest figures from the Ministry of the Interior, dated June 21. A number already higher than that of the previous vote to elect the deputies of the National Assembly, in 2022.
The “good” ballot in the ballot box
For those who are planning to go on vacation, a weekend with friends or who will not be near their polling station, it is always possible to make a proxy. Food for thought for all political bodies, which are waging a silent battle around these votes. Because although it is customary to give power of attorney to a loved one, the major political groups offer, in the event of disagreement with those around them, online services to find someone – from the same political side – who will submit the ” good” ballot in the ballot box.
“You can vote for someone else anywhere in France. It is not essential that this person comes from your city,” Renaissance specifies in its email. Since January 1, 2022, principal and agent no longer need to be registered on the same electoral list. Even if traveling to the principal’s polling station remains obligatory to vote by proxy and requires a certain geographical proximity.
Dam in the “swing-circos”
Enough to germinate an idea on the left of the political spectrum, whose activists fear seeing the National Rally (RN) win a majority of seats in the Assembly. Why not vote by proxy in constituencies that the far right could recover in the next two rounds? Blocking what looks like swing states – these States which can swing the American presidential election – in the French way, therefore.
On its website, the New Popular Front (NFP) lists around a hundred “swing-circos”, an anglicism to describe these constituencies won by less than 1,000 votes during the last legislative elections. “To win, you need a strategy: target swing circos as a priority,” said outgoing Somme MP François Ruffin at the start of the campaign.
In these areas, La France insoumise (LFI) particularly relies on its Action Populaire online platform, which connects voters wishing to provide a proxy and those who could provide it. Could members come from far away to carry the votes of people absent on voting day? “We prefer to give proxies to people who live in our constituency, assures an LFI campaign director of one of these “swing-circos”. Some people with powers of attorney may ultimately not travel. This is a risk that we do not want to take.” There is no question of losing the “multiple requests received”.
Infiltration of the far right?
From the first days of the campaign, however, alert messages flooded social networks concerning an infiltration attempt which “would” be carried out by the extreme right to “hijack the proxies”, notably on Plan Procu. This site for connecting principals and agents uses all the codes of online dating platforms, similar to a sort of electoral Tinder.
The platform, which aims to be “apolitical”, was launched in May on the occasion of the European elections by the A Voté association – around ten members of which were close to Macronie, according to the Check News service of Release. “You want to vote but have no one to give your proxy to? Think about #PlanProcu,” even wrote the spokesperson for the Ministry of the Interior on June 12 on X (formerly Twitter).
The next day, and the arrival of the first alerts on the networks, Plan Procu closed. Coincidence? Contacted, the A Voté association assures that when we sent them the messages, the platform “was already closed” because of the influx of requests – “between 3,000 and 4,000, as many in three days as during the Europeans.
Psychosis
These calls for vigilance also concern the Action populaire site. In a message posted on X on June 17 and since deleted, the GUD Paris, an ultra-right student organization whose proximity to the RN has been demonstrated several times, said ironically: “It is possible to register here to vote by proxy for LFI. This does not give you the idea of betraying the trust of the voter who entrusts you with their vote, by voting instead for a party who defends the French for example.” Understanding the far right.
Is this risk real? The ambient paranoia confuses voters. “I don’t want my vote to be used for a party I don’t want,” Alice assures. Two years ago, this waitress changed polling stations. Taken by surprise by the upcoming election, the 22-year-old young woman will be on vacation with her family in Besançon (Doubs) during the two rounds of the legislative elections and knows no one to whom she can entrust her proxy. She then thinks about using Plan Procu, but her sister tells her about infiltration attempts by the extreme right. Moment of doubt. Alice wonders if party proxy platforms are more secure. She decided. It is this last solution that she intends to choose to vote on June 30 and July 7.
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