Posted on Oct 18, 2021, 3:07 PM
There is no longer a mayor at Pré Saint-Gervais (Seine-Saint-Denis). The Council of State confirmed on Tuesday, October 12 the cancellation of the elections of March 2020, which had put at the head of the municipality Laurent Baron (PS), from the first round.
The reason: some bulletins from the competing list, that of Delphine Debord (LFI), could not be counted, because the European nationality of a member of the list was not included, which is however compulsory. Despite an urgent reprint of the ballots, 42 voters had already slipped them into the ballot box, and were therefore invalidated for non-compliance.
However, Laurent Baron’s list was elected in the first round with only seven votes in advance (50.9% of the vote). The invalidated ballots should therefore have led at least to the holding of a second round.
New elections on December 5 and 12
The invalidation of the election, claimed by Delphine Debord, was first decided by the Montreuil administrative tribunal on December 4, but Laurent Baron had appealed. The Council of State validated this decision.
A judgment which did not fail to delight Delphine Debord, who sees it as a “democratic victory” and welcomes the holding of new elections in which “this time, those who will be elected will be well elected. “
The inhabitants of Pré Saint-Gervais are in fact called to the polls again on December 5 and 12. In the meantime, Laurent Baron is dismissed and current affairs will be managed by a special delegation made up of three senior officials, appointed by the prefect.
No decisions affecting the future of the city
Their main task will be to organize the holding of the elections. It will always be possible to register births, deaths and marriages, but the delegation which ensures the interim will not be able in any case to take decisions affecting the future of the city, such as the vote of the municipal budget or the construction of facilities.
“If I take note of this decision, I can only regret its consequences: our fellow citizens are now deprived of a municipal team fully committed for 18 months to place the Pré in a dynamic of united and ecological city where life is good. “, Reacted Laurent Baron in a press release.
The latter also refuses to confirm whether or not he will be a candidate in these new elections. “The time for the campaign will come. My person, it is not the most important ”he declared.
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