This supporter of Jean-Luc Mélenchon, the candidate of La France insoumise party, admits to meeting a large number of French people who are not very interested in the electoral campaign, or even in politics in general.

People tell us that they are not interested in politics because it makes no sense to vote. At me, I kindly explain to them that we can have social progress and that yes, politics is also something that should interest them.Jeroen explained.

When we accompanied him to a building in a neighborhood outside Metz, in eastern France, Joeron spoke to a voter who told him he would vote, but had little interest.

Discouraged by French politics, this man learned that people around him would avoid Sundays.

Disgusted with the system, what! There are people who work, who have two jobs day and night and can’t afford to dohe says.

Towards greater abstention than in 2017

In the first round of the last presidential election in 2017, 22% of voters in France abstained.

In their region, the proportion is even higher. This is the case in Metz, where a third of registered voters did not vote.

Some polls suggest the abstention rate may be even higher this year.

For Metz municipal councilor Xavier Bouvet, this prospect is not surprising. He noticed the lack of interest aroused by this campaign that fell victim to increasingly confusing newsincluding the COVID-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine.

The elected official, who witnessed the frustration on the part of the voters, also stressed that the problem was observed even before this presidential campaign.

” It is a democratic fatigue with deep roots, fueled at the same time by a form of misunderstanding of the political system, decision times and administrative complexities. All of this has led to a departure from issues that seem to be increasingly blurring. “

Po Saint-Germain-en-Laye Sciences professor, Céline Braconnier, has been interested for many years in abstention in France.

According to him, the phenomenon has been seen for a long time among young voters and residents of working class neighborhoods outside major cities.

Candidates address themselves in a way that prioritizes those who elect them. When the vote of the entire category is small, we are less inclined as candidates to defend the interests of these voters.he explained.

The expert added that abstention is now a wider option in the French population, in particular in categories of the population that, until then, had systematically voted.

An evolution of the phenomenon, which, according to Céline Braconnier, is partly explained by frustration, but also by the political offer, which has undergone major changes in France in recent years.

” It’s obvious that when traditional parties are broken, when signs that have become so strong like right and left are no longer signs, it’s obvious that those in the farthest areas have more difficulty finding their bearings and less going to the polls. “

Strong avoidance of young people?

This year, abstention may be particularly prevalent in the youngest parts of the electorate. Polls suggest the rate could be 40% among 18-24 year olds.

On the campus of Lorraine University in Metz on Tuesday, some students made no secret of following the president’s campaign.

I don’t vote, and probably someone else does the samelaunched Etam, recognizing that abstention could have an impact on the ballot and be twisted the results.

At the end of the classes, various reasons were cited to explain the reluctance of some to go to the polling station.

For Apolline, the obstacle was to return to his hometown to vote. I need at least five hours on the road or seven hours on the train to get there. I have no way or time, he says. The student does not feel sufficiently challenged by the proposals of the candidates to make these efforts.

Exactly, Mamadou Karim Sissoko, a Greenpeace activist who led a campus awareness campaign, believes that the lack of attention given by aspiring presidents to certain themes, such as climate, may have contributed to the demobilization of a party. electorate.

” Ecology is always put in the background. So here it is. However, it is a topic that can also be mobilizing, especially among young people. “

Despite the context and obstacles, many voters, especially young people, will exercise their right to vote on Sunday.

This is the case of Inès, who met in Metz, who notices this temptation of abstentionism around her.

This is very problematic for democracy. We are offered the right to vote, this is our only weapon, and if no one uses it, everyone will still complain.he says.