KOLKATA: Of the 59 French citizens eligible to vote in the European Parliament elections held at the French Consulate on Rajasthan Road on Sunday, only 16 turned up to cast their vote. Of the rest, some opted for “proxy voting”, where they nominated a voter registered on the French electoral roll to vote on their behalf. “Posters were put up of the 38 political parties that took part in the European Parliament elections, in which France has 81 seats. Voters had to choose a party and put just one ballot in an envelope, seal it and drop it in a box. The voting process in Kolkata was the same as in any village in France where ballot papers are used. Only big cities use electronic voting machines,” said Samuel Bouchard, a 26-year-old French consulate employee who is also the youngest voter in Kolkata. Of the 38 parties, seven secured the minimum 5% vote share needed to win seats. The far-right National Coalition Party topped the polls with 31.5%, more than double the Renaissance Party’s 15.2%. It was followed by the Socialist Party in third place with 14.3%. Following the results, French President Emmanuel Macron announced the dissolution of Parliament and called for early parliamentary elections. The Kolkata consulate is the only polling station in 11 Indian states (West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha and seven northeastern states). Anyone wishing to vote had to come to the consulate in Kolkata to cast their vote. Postal voting was banned in France in 1975 due to fears of voter fraud. “Only 55% of eligible voters vote in European Parliament elections, the second largest election in the world after India. In India, the elections were just recently concluded and the government was sworn in on the same day that voters cast their votes,” Bouchard said. The 16 votes cast in Kolkata were counted in the evening and the results were mailed to Paris. The envelopes were then resealed and physically sent to Paris with the results to ensure there was no fraud.
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