everyone thought that there would be no campaign of second round for the municipal because of the health crisis. It is not the case. In 4 897 cities (to which must be added the metropolis of Lyon), where a second round is organised on the 28th of June, the campaign is in full swing. In this context, the hunting of non-voters is one of the most popular activities among the candidates.
And for good reason : on march 15, during the first round of the elections, the abstention rate has broken all records by leaping to 55,34 %, far ahead of the first round of 2014 ( 36,45 %). “The circumstances were exceptional : a lot of people have not gone to vote by fear of catching the Covid-19 or to state their disagreement on the organization of the first round, while the health crisis began, noted from the outset Nelly Garnier, the director of campaign Rachida Dati, the candidate LR to Paris. But since a few days, it feels like life is back and that there is a remobilization. Up to us to convince voters to move. “
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Hammered by the president of the Republic in his speech of June 14, the announcement of a return to normal will be enough to reassure those who were afraid to go vote ? The candidates hope and put themselves in four to convince non-voters to vote. Not so easy to do in a campaign turned upside down by the actions barriers. Between the prohibition of meetings, the inability to attend to the apartment, the ban of door-to-door, and the reluctance to face the hauling, hunting to the voters has become a sport delicate. Field is far from easy in the world after the Covid-19.
“Be the least intrusive possible”
” It must be the least intrusive possible. People are still very hesitant to be taken in hand a paper that you hand, note Nicolas Florian, candidate for re-election to the mayoralty of Bordeaux. To go to the meeting of the people, we prefer to install in fixed locations to engage in dialogue with those who want it. “It is also the strategy that has chosen to adopt David Kimelfeld, candidate at his succession to the metropolis of Lyon. “We have targeted the neighbourhoods in which abstention has been important. We are conducting actions by installing a table and a kakémono to be visible and allow people who want to come and talk with us, ” says the one who fears that the participation rate is still very low. On the city of lyon and in particular in cities where the mayor has been elected in the first round, the challenge is huge, since a lot of voters are unaware that there is a second round to elect the advisers to the metropolitan. “
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others are more fit-in, and resumed hauling in public spaces where the passage is important. Safe bet of the election campaigns before Covid-19, the tour of the aisles of the markets is again admitted among the field actions. “Do the markets is important, because it allows to reassure the anxious and put forward the issues of the campaign, note Nelly Garnier, the head of the list LR in the 11th arrondissement. In Paris, we need to mobilize voters on the vote, that is to say, against Anne Hidalgo, to not go back for a further six years with his team. “
The terrain remains the royal way
For the majority of the candidates, the field remains the royal road to touch a maximum of people. “You have to go find voters one by one, insists Pierre Hurmic, the candidate EELV à Bordeaux. We crisscross the city all the time, and I appeal to people to see if they have voted in the first round, if they intend to move to the second… If they answer me : no, I want to know why and to encourage them to vote on June 28. “In Strasbourg, the candidate eco-Jeanne Barseghian notes that it spends 90 % of his time in the streets of the alsatian capital to go to meet people. “The field is the best way to remind them that there is a second round and give the issues, says the young woman. And also to convince more young people to go and vote. “
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But some applicants have devised new ways to go to meet voters. The wanderings in the city are all the rage. It is not uncommon to come across candidates who are loitering in the streets or on the quays. They hope to reach people that they would not cross in a campaign that is traditional. Catherine Trautmann, a candidate PS in Strasbourg, made and meetings at the foot of the building. “This is a good way to establish a dialogue while respecting the gestures barriers. The proof : my competitors are doing it now too, ” she says. This allows there still to remind that the elections are held on the 28 June. “People are more concerned by the current situation, and the consequences of the epidemic that by the elections, some are unaware that the second round takes place at the end of June,” confirms Nicolas Florian.
The good life of the political marketing
But the tracking of non-voters is also done outside the field. Already heavily used in the first round, the operations of political marketing by phone, by mail or email to explode. “We do a lot of distributions in the mailbox, and spend a lot of phone calls. The mouth-to-ear works well for campaign, ” confirms François-Noël Buffet, candidate LR to the metropolis of Lyon.
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These operations compensate for the inability to do door-to-door. The inhabitants of such a district will receive a letter that addresses their concern. Sessions giant phoning are also carried out by the militants. In Paris, Rachida Dati update as well on the fact call massively of the voters targeted, which abstained in the march 15,. It is by consulting the records of actual voters in the first round, available in the prefecture, as the teams of candidates can identify abstainers and cross their names with their files of members or other files which are purchased from specialized companies. In Strasbourg, Catherine Trautmann has set up a telephone service called “Hello Catherine” allowing that the wish to leave a message or question to the candidate.
The time of the meetings of apartment visio
To convince, the digital tools and the social networks also turning on to full. The Twitter accounts of the candidates are in turmoil : the posting of messages follow one another at a frantic pace. The ” Facebook live “, which allow the heads of list film live and interact with people who look at them, make a tobacco. Few are the contenders who have not participated in this exercise. “These transfers as a direct replace is ideal for large meetings. It works perfectly and people like it, you are able to ask their questions directly, ” says Catherine Trautmann, who regularly organized on specific themes. It is not only an appointment, but it has the advantage of having a life after it. It is a sort of campaign on demand. “In the same order of ideas : video conferences that have proliferated during the confinement period, have inspired some of the candidates. “I am of the meetings of apartment in visio “, confirms David Kimelfeld.
Finally the last way – and not the least important is to go fishing with non-voters – is to offer a ” service proxy “. Some have even set up numbers to help those who can not go to the polls to find a person to be appointed. At Clamart, the city council has drawn up a tent in front of the police station to assist, or even encourage, people to make a power of attorney. In Paris, Rachida Dati has launched a website to “automate” powers of attorney : it allows to put in contact the Parisians may not go vote and those who could do it for them. “This may promote the voting of frail people, but also of all those who go to on the weekend…” underlines François-Noël Buffet. This hunting for proxies, promises to be even more intense than the bill on the second round of municipal elections is expected to allow an agent to have two powers of attorney, compared to only one currently. The voters have definitely no excuse…
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