The Council of State canceled the result of the last municipal elections in Cholet, a town of 53,000 inhabitants in Maine-et-Loire. The invalidation is due to non-compliance with certain provisions of the electoral code in the second round, AFP learned on Wednesday.
In its decision dated July 20, the Council of State notes the “irregular nature of the reception” of the new running mate in Anne Hardy’s Diverse Left list in the second round. Anne Hardy had added to her new Miscellaneous list, two members of a competing list, without these arrivals being validated by the head of the list. In June 2020, his list had recorded 46.04% of the votes against 53.95% for the outgoing mayor of Divers Droite by Gilles Bourdouleix, then re-elected.
New elections are expected within three months
Indeed, according to article 264 of the electoral code, recalls the Council of State, the candidates included, within the framework of the second round, in a list different from their initial list, must, among other conditions, be notified “to the prefecture or sub-prefecture by the person responsible for the list drawn up” in the first round, which was not the case.
Consequently, “the participation in the second round of this irregularly constituted list undermined the sincerity of the ballot as a whole”, considers the Council of State. “The elections of March 15 and June 28, 2020 are canceled,” the institution ruled.
The Council of State also deemed Anne Hardy “ineligible for all elections for a period of one year”. It will therefore not be able to participate in the next municipal elections which must be held within three months of the notification of the decision of the Council of State.
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