Legislative 2022: Constitutional Council cancels three elections, voters will have to vote again

Their voters will have to vote again. Three elections organized as part of the 2022 legislative elections have been cancelled, the Constitutional Council said in a press release issued this Friday. Thus Bertrand Petit (PS) in the 8th arrondissement of Pas-de-Calais, Anne-Sophie Frigoux (RN) in the 2nd arrondissement of the Marne and Thomas Meunier (Horizons) in the 1st arrondissement of Charente are no longer elected and the residents will be invited to a second ballot to elect their alternate.

Cancellations for various reasons

In the case of the 8th constituency of Pas de Calais, the Constitutional Council ruled that Bertrand Petit’s deputy, René Hock, did not qualify due to his status as deputy to Senator Cathy Apurso-Pauly. Because the two mandates are incompatible, this person cannot run.

In the 2nd constituency of the Marne, an illegal entry on a candidate’s ballot resulted in the annulment of 965 votes, “Given the small difference in votes between the three first-place candidates, the failure to count incorrect ballots in the vote count resulted in a change in qualified candidates for the second ballot, thereby changing the sincerity of the vote.”

Finally, in the 1st arrondissement of Charente, it is precisely the small difference between the candidates that is the reason for the cancellation of the elections. Indeed, after examining the voting process, the Constitutional Council invalidated 27 votes in favor of Thomas Meunier, which, therefore, should be excluded from its final assessment. Thus, having only 24 votes in front of his competitor, the election is logically declared invalid.

Appeal in favor of Cedric Villani rejected

Fourteen other appeals filed by candidates in legislative elections were denied by the Constitutional Council. Among them is a close friend of Cédric Villani who wanted to invalidate the defeat of the former LREM deputy in Essonne on the grounds that some signatures in the attendance register were contested. It was rejected after an investigation found that the divergent signatures were not related to identity theft.

The institution, chaired by Laurent Fabius, has yet to rule on 24 appeals related to legislative elections, decisions are expected by the end of January.