A fierce competition, but ballot boxes that risk being shunned again: voting takes place on Sunday for a second round of regional and departmental elections that electrify the political class a year ahead of the presidential election, but much less so the voters.
While excitement reigns within party headquarters, the voters themselves remain to be convinced. With a record abstention in the first round (66.7%), predictions about the state of public opinion for Sunday (and beyond for 2022) are fragile.
All political leaders (who must remain silent on Saturday) have called in recent days for the electorate to mobilize more, without really convincing according to polls, which predict no significant rebound.
The duel in the PACA region will likely be the most closely watched vote: the National Rally sees it as its only chance to win the first region in its history.
Thierry Mariani, a Le Pen supporter who came out on top, faces the incumbent LR Renaud Muselier, on whose behalf the left-ecologist list of Laurent Félizia has withdrawn.
The latest polls give a very slightly favorable result to Mr. Muselier, still at the mercy of a remobilization of the National Rally electorate.
In the shadow of these regional elections, the departmental elections in the Alpes-Maritimes were logically marked by an equivalent massive abstention, with outgoing teams from the “republican” right-wing parties largely in the lead in the first round.
