Cali-Parisien

Élection Présidentielle

We had the first round of the presidential elections here last week. In order to win the presidential election one candidate has to win an absolute majority (more than 50%) of the votes. Since this is pretty unlikely from happening, it's pretty much guaranteed that the election will be split into a first and second round (the second round is between the top two winners). There are a few exceptions (like the previous 2002 election), but it's almost always between the two major parties: Socialist Party (PS, aka "the left") and Union for a Popular Movement (UMP, aka "the right"). Counting the minority parties, there were actually 12 candidates, but like the US the media really only gives coverage to the two major parties.

Similar to the US, every channel and possible form of media has been brainwashing and ramming political crap down our throats for the last few months. Although it feels like it has been forever, they actually started about three or four months ago instead of two years before like the US. The angle is quite different as well, there's virtually no mud-slinging and the media doesn't dig at all into the private lives of the political candidates (at all). The lack of dirt and scandal doesn't seem right at all from the American politics that we are used to.

As for the actual voting process, it's a bit simpler than what I was used to in the US. You're basically given a blue envelope and a bunch of little scraps of paper printed with the various candidate names. Once you've cleared the registration list, you stuff the candidate of choice into the envelope and drop it in the polling box. That's it. No "hanging chads" or confused seniors, it's a pretty idiot proof process.

Well, I guess all of the talk from work, television, radio, and papers have brain-washed me a bit too. I didn't expect to end up writing as much as I did about all of the election stuff, but I guess that's basically was has been on our minds lately.

Libellés : Election, France

posted by geek @ lundi, avril 30, 2007 0 comments