It is a judgment that could set a precedent. The Nantes administrative court canceled, on July 9, the first round of the municipal meetings of Malville (Loire-Atlantique), on the grounds of the strong abstention linked to the context of the Covid-19, and instructions deemed contradictory by the government at that time -the.
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On March 15, Martine Lejeune was elected mayor in the first round with 50.32% of the vote, only three more votes than the absolute majority. It is this small difference which is pointed out in the grounds invoked by the Nantes administrative court. But the court especially links this small difference to the record abstention recorded in Malville that day.
In fact, only 44.63% of the 2,494 voters in this small commune of Loire-Atlantique went to the polls on March 15, against 65.05% in the first round of municipal elections in 2014, a decrease of twenty points. However, the court explained this abstention by the "health context" and the " messages broadcast by the government in the days preceding the vote" , which "dissuaded a significant part of the voters from going to the polling station".
At the origin of this judgment, is a woman, Magali Janvier, defeated candidate who decided to file appeal after an election which she judges "very unfair" . "Like many people, we expected the elections to be postponed ," she told Le Figaro . Part of our electorate could not come to vote. They were afraid, and rightly so: we had administrative agents contaminated by March 15! ” . In addition, this electorate is essentially part of the same age group of the population: the elderly. “I was vice-president of the Communal Center for Social Action at that time. We called all our elders, and many said to us, "We couldn't come to vote because we were very scared, when the president said we were in a state of war," " she said. However, those over 65 are not sensitive to the same themes as other age categories of the population, which could influence the election.
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“It was played in three voices. We wouldn't necessarily have won, but surely there would have been two rounds. At least we could have fought, "she argues. According to the services of the town hall of Marville, Martine Lejeune, who no longer wishes to speak in the media, intends to appeal soon to the Council of State. As this appeal was suspensive, she could then remain in her post as mayor until the Council of State rendered her decision - within two months of her appeal.
Thousands of appeals filed
This unprecedented decision could well set a precedent. Especially since Magali Janvier is far from the only angry mayor. On April 3, already, 50 mayors and candidates had signed a forum in Le Figaro , initiated by Renaud George, former mayor (LREM) of Saint-Germain-au-Mont-d'Or, to request a new vote, including in the municipalities where a candidate had been elected in the first round.
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Since then, Renaud George and three other mayors from various regions of France, convinced that the Covid-19 distorted the March 15 election, have formed an association, under the name of 50 million voters . The objective? Encourage candidates and mayors who disagree with the conduct of this first round to file appeals and give them legal advice, with the help of lawyers and constitutional experts. In a few weeks, nearly 4,000 members joined the association, and 3,500 appeals were filed for the first round, including that of Magali Janvier, who joined the association.
50 million voters also filed a priority question of constitutionality, which has since gone back to the Constitutional Council. His opinion, delivered on June 17, undoubtedly influenced the decision of the administrative judges of Nantes. While declaring article 19 of the Covid-19 law in conformity with the Constitution (the opinion "validated" the circumstances of the first round), also recommended to the administrative courts to judge on a case by case basis "if the level of abstention may or may not have altered (...) the fairness of the ballot ”.
"According to settled case law, abstention had never been a reason for the invalid vote," underlines Renaud George. This opinion is ultimately "an open door to the administrative courts to tell them: 'You do not have to do as usual regarding abstention, judge on a case-by-case basis'", he supports. In fact, in Herbignac, another town in Loire-Atlantique subject to an appeal, the Nantes administrative court did not see fit to cancel the first round. In this commune, the election was also played out in the first round with, this time, 80 votes more for the winning list compared to the second, against a background of high abstention (49.80%).
On the other hand, a second commune could soon experience the same fate as that of Malville. The public rapporteur of the Strasbourg administrative court asked, Friday July 10, the cancellation of the first round in Montois-la-Montagne, after an appeal filed by the outgoing mayor Jean Cantele, also member of the association 50 million voters .