The European elections organized in France on June 9 will become a headache (even a headache in itself) for rural communities. Reason? Everyone must create as many election commissions as there are lists that will participate in these proportional elections. According to the Interior Ministry, 38 lists now intend to share the 81 seats that France will have in the European Parliament. That is, there are so many signs that “must” be installed around each… polling station.
“We’re going over our heads. Most of these lists will not even have posters that we could provide,” surrenders Bernard Goursaud, mayor of Brie-sous-Mat and president of the Association of Rural Mayors (AMR) in Charente-Maritime. In April last year, all municipalities received a circular from the Ministry of Internal Affairs regarding this election campaign. Privileged seats, panel sizes, equal surface area offered to each list of candidates: everything is carefully spelled out to ensure strict democratic fairness. So Bernard Goursaud complied: “We made the panels out of plywood and old vine stakes. It cost us 200 euros,” says the irritated elected official, who has to deal with a limited budget.
Road foreman and several pensioners at work
In Lusignac, a nearby town, Mayor Daniel Dardilla paid as much as 3,000 euros to outfit himself with 27 galvanized steel panels made by a road worker and a few retirees. “Voting signs are terribly expensive, so we did everything ourselves,” confirms the elected official. For a town of 180 people, where every euro counts, this investment will not go unnoticed. “This year we bought a tractor. Our budget suddenly grew to 280,000 euros. We have beautiful villages, but we don’t get much help,” sums up Daniel Dardillat.
Bernard Goursaud calls for changes to the Electoral Code to limit the damage and – in complete contrast to the European Parliament – the costs of rural municipalities. “We should be able to install signs only for those lists that send us their posters,” the elected official believes.
Source: Le Parisien
I have worked in the news industry for over 12 years. I have a vast amount of experience in different areas of the industry, including politics. I am currently a political news writer for 24 News Recorder. I have also written a book about politics. In my free time, I enjoy spending time with my family and friends, as well as traveling.
