It is that time again, when, on April 22nd, and again on May 6th, 2012, French citizens will rush to deserted schools and sport halls to hide in what looks like a changing room and slip a small envelope in a box.
In the envelope, a paper, with a name on it. The name of the person they have decided would or should be our next president. For a large part of the near 45 million electors, it might just be the name of the person they deem less potentially dangerous as a head of the Republic.
In France, the presidential elections have two rounds. If a candidate receives the absolute majority (50% + 1 vote) in the first round, he is elected. Because the election is a direct suffrage, no candidate has ever been elected after the first round. The number of candidates plays a part in the scores that each candidate can obtain proportionally, and it is so important to take this into account, because even the most popular candidate can be eliminated as it was the case for Edouard Balladur in 1995 to the benefit of the socialist candidate Lionel Jospin.
This time around, voters have been presented 10 candidates: Read the rest of this entry »
April Thursday's Blog 