French voters who have moved have to contact authorities to register on local polling lists because registration is not automatic – an exception in Europe. More than 7 million people, many of them young adults, are in this group of “poorly registered” voters. To address the issue of abstention, authorities extended the registration deadline to March 4, 2022, for the April elections.
A voter who is “poorly registered” on the electoral rolls is three times more likely to abstain from voting, warned Céline Braconnier, director of Sciences-Po Saint-Germain, based on her studies. That is a worrisome rate for French democracy, since the abstention rate neared 66 percent for 2021’s regional elections, the country’s last poll. Braconnier, a specialist in voter turnout issues, has coined the term “poorly registered” to describe those who are not registered where they live at the time of voting.
In France, a change on a new voting list is not automatic after a change of address, unlike in most European countries. And with many French people forgetting to register in their new location, chances are higher of voters simply vanishing from polls. “The more mobility there is, the more ‘poor registration’ there is,” Braconnier told FRANCE 24.
Every French national aged 18 or older has the right to vote, which is non-mandatory. Voters then have to register themselves on a polling list at the local town hall where they live.
About three million French people move every year. That figure could increase significantly because of the massive relocation of those working remotely from the cities to the countryside or suburban areas, a consequence of the Covid-19 pandemic.
“Some don’t vote for local and parliamentary elections but do vote for presidential ones,” Braconnier said. On the other hand, the researcher said, many of those who never go to the polls, not even for presidential…
Source : france24
