The abstention promises to be historic.
While most polling stations are open from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., or even until 8 p.m. in some major cities, voters seem to be shying away from the polls for now.
At midday, the turnout for the regional and departmental elections was only 12.22%, according to a press release from the Interior Ministry.
A significant drop, since the first round of regional in 2015 had displaced 16.27% of voters at noon.
In 2010, 16.07% of the electorate had already voted at the same time, and 18.48% had done so in 2004.
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To read also: Regional: a massive abstention could scramble the results on Sunday evening
Among the regions most affected by abstention at noon, Île-de-France (8.47% participation), Grand Est (10.33%), Brittany (11.47%) and Normandy (11.97%) hold the top of the ranking.
On the departments side, Val-d'Oise has the lowest participation rate with 6.97% of voters.
Conversely, among the regions that vote the most, Corsica was a good student at midday, with already 22.50% participation.
A little special elections for the Isle of Beauty since the citizens are called upon to renew the 63 territorial advisers of the Corsican Assembly.
"The abstention will be in the majority"
“Even if the abstentionist behavior is difficult to decipher, it seems almost certain that this will be in the majority. This will confirm this cycle in which the country is and which has been amplified since 2017 ”
, anticipated Saturday Frédéric Dabi, general manager opinion of the Ifop group, in
Le Figaro
. An abstention which can be explained by several aspects. First of all, the fact that the regions never manage to mobilize the crowds.
“There is a difficulty in identifying the real stakes of these elections. The citizens do not necessarily know the competences of the regions, and, if they have them in mind, the questions of secondary schools or transport are often less mobilizing than delinquency ”
, judge Brice Teinturier, political scientist and Deputy CEO of Ipsos.
In addition, the relaxation of health constraints has pushed many citizens to leave for the weekend or to enjoy their Sunday with their family.
To finish, the fact that the presidential movement does not have any region makes, according to Brice Teinturier, the possibility of a “
sanction vote
” with regard to the power less strong.
“Until 2015, the mechanics of the sanction vote worked very well to crack down on the government in power.
It is now more difficult, ”he
argues.
Various reasons which make that the abstention could well become, this Sunday evening again, the first party of France.
