Residents and Left Voters Can Decide France’s Presidential Election – NRK Urix – Foreign News & Documentaries

NRK meets 28-year-old Mahadamadou at Canal Saint-Denis in Paris. Sit on a bench during a break in the workday. He is originally from Mali, but lives in France with his wife and family. He can vote, but he doesn’t mind.

– I dont care. Politicians do not care. He says I never voted.

I think Le Pen wins low attendance

And he’s not alone in that. He belongs to the group that Marine Le Pen and Emmanuel Macron tried to lure from the sofa to the polls. In the last days of the campaign period, they traveled all over France and met people in the streets and squares.

Polls show that 25 to 30 percent of voters are likely to stay home. This percentage is even higher among young people. In the first round of elections, more than 40 percent of those in the 18-35 age group chose the sofa over the polling station.

In the last presidential election, the percentage was much lower, just under 30 percent.

– It could cost the landowners a victory for Emmanuel Macron. For him, it is very important that they go vote now.

This is what Swede-French Axel Gilden told NRK. He lived in France all his life. Today he works as a journalist for the famous weekly newspaper L’Express. It is believed that many left-leaning voters who are now staying at home support Le Pen, in fact.

Because if they had voted, they wouldn’t have voted for her, says Gilden.

Hold your nose when you vote

About half of those who voted in the previous round did not vote for Macron or Le Pen. Now you should find another filter.

The French are not happy with the rematch between Macron and Le Pen again. Both are against Le Pen and against Macron. They don’t want to choose between those two things, says Frederic Dabi, director of the Ifop polling institute. TF1.

Next to the Canal Saint-Denis sits and Rouen. Tomorrow he will do what many call his “nose” when they vote.

The candidate he wanted did not advance from the first round of the elections. Now he will vote for someone he doesn’t like to try to prevent someone he loves worse from coming to power.

I will vote against Marine Le Pen. So I have to vote for Emmanuel Macron. But I do not support him, he is right-wing, and I support the left, says Rowan.

Tired of “counter-voices”.

According to Gilden, many French people are tired of this. Many of those who voted for Macron to ban Le Pen five years ago feel they have not been listened to. They did not get anything for their vote.

– They think: “No, now he will not deceive me again. Why am I standing up and participating in this again?” I’ve spoken to many who say this.

Rowan says he gets to know himself very well what Gilden is saying here. He says that many are tired of this system.

I have many friends who voted left, but don’t bother voting this year. They are tired of voting for someone they don’t like. He says: We are tired of not hearing our opinions.

Far-left candidate Jean-Luc Mélenchon received more than 7 million votes in the first round of the elections. Who will support these voters now, can be decisive.

Says the head of the polling institute IFOP le Figaro The outcome of the elections now depends on what they want to do.

Mélenchon repeated several times on election night that not a single vote should go to Le Pen. But for many of his supporters, going to the polls to vote for Macron is out of reach.

no or

Thus, there are those who cast empty votes and this time it seems that there may be quite a few of them. Both Gabriel and Joseph say they plan to do so.

Joseph, 20, says none of the candidates has a program he likes. He wants something else.

– I think I’m giving a signal by voting in blank. France must understand that something must be done for us young people.

Here, the French-Swedish journalist agrees with Emmanuel Macron who said there is no completely “pure” voice. A voice you can have for a politician who thinks completely of yourself.

I’m a little surprised by the French sometimes. People talk about the presidential election as if it’s a supermarket where you can buy exactly the product you want, Gilden says.

There is no candidate that you agree with 100 percent on. He continues: You choose the one you don’t like least.

Excited voters for the first time

19-year-old Emily and 20-year-old Azinour have no intention of giving up on Sunday’s election. They have voted in local elections before, but this is their first presidential election.

Although they have not received their desired candidate for this round, they will appear at the polls tomorrow. They will vote against Le Pen.

Macron is less bad than Le Pen, says Azinour.

The two say they discuss a lot of politics, but are unhappy with the issues that were on the campaign agenda.

– They hardly talked about the climate. Emily thinks they spent too much time on foolish personal attacks.