Toulouse: crowds for proxies a few days before the first round of the presidential election
In front of the Toulouse police stations, the long queues for proxies are mainly made up of young people. Some say their refusal of the extreme right.
For Noé, a 22-year-old Toulousain, manager by profession, the presidential election of April 10 and 24 will be “one of his first votes”. And it is in his eyes “really important” to express oneself, in particular, he judges, on “ecology”. The young man will vote “left” without revealing for whom and also claims to want to oppose the far right. “There are such aberrant proposals. I can’t understand how some people believe it. »
In front of the small Saint-Cyprien district police station, alley Charles-de-Fitte, in Toulouse, this Wednesday afternoon, the queue stretches on the sidewalk. It is even more impressive in front of the police station in rue du Rempart-Saint-Etienne, or at the foot of the police station, at the Mouth, at certain times.
Young people are in the majority everywhere. “I have convictions”, advances to Saint-Cyprien, a 26-year-old Toulousain, animator, who will not be in the Pink City on Sunday. “I thought I would vote but seeing the rise of the extreme right, I tell myself that we need to vote even more. I would have done my part, ”he says, saying his preference for Mélenchon.
Pauline, a 27-year-old trainee teacher, is still registered with her parents near Saint-Gaudens. For this “civic duty”, she too will choose the leader of the Insoumis. She talked about it with her colleagues: “We don’t want to go back for five years with the same minister. »
Still in this waiting line, Mélanie, 24, an agronomy engineering student, registered in the Gers, will vote, she, Macron. She wants to influence “the agriculture of tomorrow” and say no, too, to the far right, regretting that voters “don’t even think about it”.
10,000 proxies in Toulouse
The rejection of extremes does not always appear at the top of the motivations. For Thibaud, 22, student, “You have to vote as you like, according to your convictions. “Aurélien, 24, student and substitute teacher, if he finds it important to participate in the ballot, wants to slip a blank ballot. And, anyway, for a 68-year-old Toulousaine, who does not want to make her vote known, the candidates are “all the same”.
At the town hall of Toulouse, 7,400 proxies have been registered as of Wednesday. And the election service expects to count a total of 10,000 for this election. Which, according to Sacha Briand, deputy mayor, remains within the norm of the previous presidential election. If the voter who wants to make a proxy must always go to a police station or a gendarmerie, the procedure has been simplified. The application can be pre-filled on the internet, which saves time. Above all, from the police station, an email is sent to the municipalities, which makes it possible to register the identity of the agent more quickly than before. And therefore to make power of attorney until the last moment. There is no deadline but waiting is not recommended.