Between the roller coasters and the ballot boxes, Lucien, 37, computer scientist, did not hesitate: "I preferred the amusement park to the elections", he confided on Sunday before going off to offer himself, with his family. , a cure of strong sensations. At the entrance to Nigloland, in Dolancourt (Aube), the vast majority of visitors we met did not fulfill their civic duties, fueling an abstention that promises to be very high, perhaps even historic in the country. At noon, participation in regional and departmental elections reached only 12.22% nationally (10.33% in the Grand-Est). In 2015, in the first round of the regional, she was 4 points higher.
“During the presidential election, I vote, but there, as for the Europeans, it is useless. Moving around won't change anything. In addition, things are bad, it's Father's Day, ”says Lucien, who lives 10 km from the amusement park. Christelle, 45-year-old accounting secretary, has also decided to shun the voting booths. “Usually, I vote all the time, even last year during municipal elections in the midst of a pandemic. But now I'm not going and it's deliberate, it's a way of showing my fed up. I have the impression that we have less and less information on the functioning of the region. When we were called Champagne-Ardenne, we were more aware, we knew what was going on there. We were drowned in the Grand-Est, we were absorbed by Strasbourg. Today, there are only for Alsace, ”she regrets.
“I wanted to show my fed up,” explains Christelle, 45-year-old secretary-accountant.
We have less and less information on how the Grand-Est region works. ”
Bruno, 61, director of a supermarket in Haute-Saône, is also abstinent.
And this, for the first time in his life as an adult citizen (and vaccinated).
But he bites his fingers.
"I would have liked to vote but my children invited me to Nigloland", he explains.
Johan, 20, also domiciled in Haute-Saône, “did not have time” to submit a ballot.
“I went to bed very late because of work, then I got up late and then I had to go to Nigloland,” says the young man who rolls up his sleeves in a café-concert.
" It was raining !
In addition, this time, it was necessary to vote twice, for the regional and the departmental ", is surprised his father-in-law David, 52, a nurseryman who only travels" for the presidential election ".
"The rest, that does not interest me ..."
"I will make up for it in the second round"
Étienne, 55, a doctor from Saint-Dizier (Haute-Marne) does not “feel guilty”. "I left very early in the morning, the polling stations were not yet open," he emphasizes. Gabrielle, 35, has some remorse. "I will make up for it in the second round next Sunday, it's important to vote," promises this mother of Seine-et-Marne. This first round "got out of his head". “I didn't think about it when we planned, at the time of deconfinement, this weekend for my 9-year-old daughter's birthday. We came to get some fresh air before they shut everything up, ”she said alarmed. "A need to breathe," confirms Greg, 40, storekeeper in Aube.
For Pierre, 26, logistics agent and his friend Georges, 29, landscaper, the elections are "frankly not their priority".
“The regional ones are not phew!
», Judge the first.
“I came to introduce Niglo, the park mascot, to my daughter and Pierre to his son.
The choice was quickly made, ”continues the second.
Aurélie, social worker in Côte-d'Or, did not "linger at all" on the polls of the day.
“I don't even know why we're voting,” she admits.
"We did not receive a lot of stuff in the mailboxes", continues her husband Mickaël, a worker in a hurry to "have a good time".
“During the presidential election, I vote, specifies Lucien, 37, computer scientist.
But there, moving around will not change anything. "
Of all the abstainers that we met, none mentioned the health crisis or "the fear of catching the Covid-19". Before the storm, we still fell on some voters like Alexandra, 45, trainer. "That's why I only arrive at noon, I absolutely wanted to give my voice. For me, it's a duty, ”she insists. Ditto for Justine and Gérald, a couple in their thirties from Franche-Comté. "At the polling station, there were only elders," describe these parents who fear a record abstention. “The French want to go out and enjoy it. There is nothing that holds them back because the regional ones do not really fascinate them ”, they argue.
“Yes, I don't care, and all my friends are the same,” admits Alexandre, 26, a maintenance technician in Bermuda shorts. And go for the dizziness of the Alpina Blitz roller coaster or the refreshing Canadian logs. "Ah, that leaves more memories than a vote!" "