Presidential: why do some overseas territories and foreign countries vote on Saturday?

Not all French people were called to vote on April 10 for the presidential election.

Those residing in certain overseas territories and in certain foreign countries were able to slip their ballot into the ballot box from Saturday, April 9.

This differentiation "was used for the first time on the occasion of the referendum to validate the draft constitution for the European Union, in May 2005, then during the presidential and legislative elections of 2007", writes the information site in overseas The 1st.

But why ?

The goal is to avoid, because of the time difference, that these voters know who came first or who won the election before going to the polling station.

“This provision makes it possible to prevent voters located in these communities from being able, before the closing of the polling stations, to know the outcome of the ballot in mainland France”, indicated the Constitutional Council in 2017.

The Belgian press is already publishing the results

On the other hand, the rule concerning the announcement of the results is the same: prohibition to broadcast anything before Sunday evening 8 p.m.

But as the counting is finished, the results are already known by the authorities.

They can therefore circulate within candidate teams and the media (including Le Parisien).

And some Belgian news sites, which are not subject to French law, have been publishing them since this Sunday afternoon.

Read alsoPresidential: why foreign media are (still) preparing to publish estimates before 8 p.m.

Voting on Sunday, as in mainland France, is maintained in certain overseas departments or communities which are not subject to such a time difference, such as Reunion and Mayotte.