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Voting for the President is not what you would expect – not better – not worse – but different.
We were invited, by the Mayor of Montpellier, to see how it all worked. And in a word – it was impressive with a pretty good estimation being made within 30 seconds of the poll closing.
It was, at the start, a bit frightening with Police surrounding the Hotel de Ville armed with side guns and sub machine guns. This is unusual for your average British voter. But once inside it was so different. We were taken through the process – which is very different. French voters do not get a list of candidates with their party printed on the card and where there is a place to use the pathetically short pencil to make your cross in private. No – here you are given your little green envelope and then you pass a long table with piles of paper – each pile bearing the name of a different candidate. You simply pick the paper which has the name of your choice, and then hide behind what amounts to a dry shower curtain – to put the paper which bears the candidates name in the envelope – which you then deposit in a special clear plastic box. Secret? Well anyone watching can see the pile you have taken your choice candidate from – so – not exactly secret.
Counting lacks all of the style and theatre which marks a British election – and to our surprise we could stand, with a few other observers, close enough to the count to see the envelopes emptied and the counting taking place. (Indeed it would have been possible to lean over and take over the counting oneself one was so close). It’s not too hard to count when all you have to do is place your piece of named paper on a stack in the middle of the table. Once all the envelopes are emptied then each pile is counted twice and a functionaire collects the results. Voila!!
Not dramatic but very efficient.
What interested the Press Room was the varying support of Royal – in the various districts things were very different. - Montpellier tends to the left as many of the slips declared, and then there was the 80% plus turn out which was pretty consistent in each area.
It has to be said – the Press room was disappointed to see Sarko take such a lead and much time was spent speculating where the votes in the first round would finish up when there was a choice of just 2.
From our point of view Bayrou ran the best campaign coming from behind to get into third position. There was palpable relief though that Le Pen did not do better – with a Brit amongst them perhaps it was even more of a relief
Used to television reporting on felt that Madame Royal, for all her charms, didn’t relate well to the television cameras and made, what in the UK, would be a fatal error – she never mentioned her adversary. Sarko on the other hand praised his opponent lavishly – which would be important in the UK – but will the magnanimous gesture count in France?
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