French Municipal Elections 2014: Hashemite's Guide and Official Thread

[Antonio the Sixth]

[Antonio the Sixth]

Oh dear, there's so much stuff... I need to find the time to read this ASAP.

[Antonio the Sixth]

I'm very interested in this, I just lack the time (and, yeah, willpower) to read it right now.

[Antonio the Sixth]

Ugh... Paris seems awfully close.

[Antonio the Sixth]

I'm following this thread, FTR.

[Antonio the Sixth]

Ugh, it would be horrible to see Bayrou win thanks to right-wing votes...

[Antonio the Sixth]

Could we FINALLY oust the Mafia from Corbeil-Essonnes?

[Antonio the Sixth]

Finally a journalist takes up an old complaint of mine: the inanity and randomness of the 'nuances politiques' used by the MOI gnomes. As it turns out, they've been arbitrarily assigning these useless labels to lists who hadn't declared as such.

http://www.lemonde.fr/municipales/article/2014/03/12/dans-les-petites-communes-l-obligation-de-declarer-une-nuance-politique-passe-mal_4381528_1828682.html

Ugh yeah, the french Interior Ministry is godawful at naming lists/candidates. And this new system for cities between 1000 and 3500 was a pretty bad idea.

[Antonio the Sixth]

Just voted! Though it will hardly be enough for the PS candidate (a Sciences Po alumnus and sorta-acquaintance, who would probably make a great mayor) to stand a chance.

[Antonio the Sixth]

When's that?

As usual, results will be known after 8PM, local time.

[Antonio the Sixth]

Where are you guys viewing results?

http://elections.interieur.gouv.fr/MN2014/

[Antonio the Sixth]

http://client00.chat.mibbit.com/?server=irc.Mibbit.Net&channel=%23municipales

[Antonio the Sixth]

Depressing, but still interesting. I wonder what those numbers would be like as a % of registered voters (though it might not make a huge difference since turnout was comparable between the two elections).

[Antonio the Sixth]

Predictions for Paris?

Hidalgo is still the clear favorite, since the left is ahead in all the swing arrondissements. Still, at this point, nightmarish scenarios can't be dismissed.

[Antonio the Sixth]

Is there anywhere where the Left performed well?

Grenoble, apparently. A few other smaller cities as well.

[Antonio the Sixth]

Hey guys, since we're discussing about the municipals, could you help me out? I'm in the middle of a pretty harsh dilemma regarding whom to vote for this Sunday.

Let me sum it up. Following the first round's results, we will have a three-way runoff. The socialist candidate, whom I voted for on the first round, is a great guy - he's young, smart (went to Sciences Po!) and I sort of know him. He won 11% on the first round though, which means he has no chance in hell to win (my vote could determine whether the  number of seats won by his list though). The two frontrunners are the incumbent right-wing mayor, who came in second with 32%, and the official UMP candidate, who came ahead with 41%. Basically, the incumbent mayor pissed off Valérie Pécresse, the local UMP bigwig, by making some decisions which IMO were clearly for the best interest of Vélizy. So the UMP recruited that stooge to challenge him.

Bottom line is: I'm absolutely convinced that the challenger is a worthless scumbag whose main talent consists of licking asses, and that his projects for the city are likely to screw it up pretty badly. I also feel a bit sad for the mayor, because even though I disagree with most of what he's done I find it disgusting to see him kicked out because he went against the will of the Higher Powers. On the other hand, I find it hard not to vote for the socialist guy, who has no chance to win but is by far the best of the three candidates. It'd be pretty awkward if I see him again and tell him I didn't vote for him...

So what should I do? Vote for the best candidate and risk getting the worst of them? Or hold my nose and vote for a guy I disagree with in order to try preventing the worst outcome? Anyone has some advice?

[Antonio the Sixth]

Vote for the party that you support, which also happens to have a candidate that you sort-of know. The outcome of the real contest won't be decided by voters like you anyway.

You're certainly right, but even though the likelihood of one vote deciding the election is extremely slight, voting only makes sense if you at least consider this possibility. But yeah, point taken.

[Antonio the Sixth]

I.e. if you're concerned about the challenger, let people who you know to be conservatives know that, in your actually comparatively neutral (given the situation) opinion, he is an obvious scumbag.

Yeah, obviously I should have moved my ass and talked to people, but I was too lazy to do that during a week with plenty of classes and other commitments (it doesn't help that I don't know that many people in general). Anyway, at the end what will happen will happen, and regardless of  what I decide, if things go the wrong way I'll feel bad about my choice.

[Antonio the Sixth]

You go and vote according to your beliefs. The right will have the candidate and mayor they deserve. It is not absolutely impossible that the incumbent wins this after all, and if vélizéens right-wingers choose the other one, well too bad for them. Chances are if he really is that much of a scumbag he pisses off everyone and the left can recover a bit for next time, as well as the respectable right.

But as Al said, your place is not in this right-wing context.

Yeah, I'll vote for the PS guy. That was the choice I was already leaning for, but I had a few doubts. Thank you guys for the help.

[Antonio the Sixth]

I just voted for the socialist candidate again. I know that if the bad guy prevails by a couple votes I will feel terrible, but at least I know I voted for the objectively better candidate.

[Antonio the Sixth]

Is the chat thing being done again?

I'm alone on it for now. I'll be here quite some time tonight.

I'm there too.

#municipales : join us everybody!

[Antonio the Sixth]

Bottom line: it's bad.

[Antonio the Sixth]

Wow, this is brutal. You know something is VERY wrong when a majority of the 93 area is blue.