A PERILOUS DEMOCRATIC EXERCISE WITHIN AN EXCEPTIONAL HEALTH CONTEXT

Abstract

This article questions the organization of the French municipal elections within the context of a global pandemic (COVID-19). In a little-explored scientific field in the cities of Le Mans, Allonnes, Coulaines and Arnage, we examine the practice of abstention on the part of voters in Le Mans Métropole. In this regard, principal component analysis followed by hierarchical cluster analysis was performed. We used the data of both the French National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies (INSEE) and the French Ministry of the Interior. Our main goal consisted in highlighting the electoral geography of Le Mans Métropole at the municipal and sub-municipal levels, using maps. We thus report that abstention rates soared. This fact corroborates the initial hypothesis of low turnout by the population at the end of this first round of the municipal elections and benefiting certain candidates on the local electoral scene. This was particularly the case for the left-wing party, the victory of which was also analysed within a national context of the Socialist Party’s decline. 

Keywords: municipal election, abstention, covid-19, France, urban community of Le Mans, spatial analysis.