How small can a village be and have its own mayor?

[Ian]

Our village has a population of about 250 (I guess about 200 of whom are eligible to vote) and elected a new mayor just recently.  There were 22 members of the community up for election, 2 rounds of voting, masses of campaigning, threatening letters, arguments, gossip, rumour and other dirty tricks.

After 49 years (that is not a miss-print) as mayor the old guard have been partly-ousted and we now have a new regime in place.

I wondered if our village had only 150 villagers .... or 50 ... would we still have had all this mallarky?

[Will]

We have 44 electors, but still have a council, a mayor, and two deputies.

We went through all the election procedure, though as a smaller commune there were not really enough people to have opposing lists. Nevertheless, at the first round of election there were 22 different people voted for (not all of which had put themselves up for election) and the vote went to a second round, as there was still one place left after counting up all the candidates who had received votes from at least half of those who voted. Mrs Will (Judie) got through comfortably on the first round.

At the time, various communes' elections were covered pretty closely on this and other forums.

There are smaller communes than ours - but not many - and several of them have their own maire. Some combine with their neighbours for simpler administration.

 

[Ian]

Thanks Will

[Tony F Dordogne]

186 people in our commune of whom 127 were registered to vote, including 9 Europeans.  A local commune has under 100 people.

French democratic system says all communes are entitled to their Maire etc, without the Council, you wouldn't be a commune/arrondisement.

[tegwini]

 Just curious, but do such officials get paid & how much?

Regards

tegwini

[Clair]

A starting point here:

http://www.cdg35.fr/Data/Fichiersattaches/A1A6_document_fichier_body_1.pdf

[Tony F Dordogne]

[quote user="tegwini"]

 Just curious, but do such officials get paid & how much?

Regards

tegwini

[/quote]

In small communes, they get paid nothing, not even petrol allowance.

[Callie]

[quote user="Ian"]Our village has a population of about 250 (I guess about 200 of whom are eligible to vote) and elected a new mayor just recently.  There were 22 members of the community up for election, 2 rounds of voting, masses of campaigning, threatening letters, arguments, gossip, rumour and other dirty tricks.[/quote]

Our commune has about 850 people and the last elections (not the most recent), there was a punch up outside the Mairie and the voting went to 3 tours, unheard of for a small council election. It even made TF3.

Mind you, I think it was a bit of a fix this year because we were given a list of names of existing membres of the conseil, and if wanted to change anything, we could cross off a name and write in a new name. No other names had been listed despite the fact that several others had presented themselves as candidates. Hardly democratic ! If you don't get the result you want, just keep revoting until you do (a bit like ratifying the EU treaty...?)

[Callie]

Okay, why didn't my quote come out as planned???????

[Clair]

All sorted out now Callie [:)]

[Clair]

[quote user="Callie"][ I think it was a bit of a fix this year because we were given a list of names of existing membres of the conseil, and if wanted to change anything, we could cross off a name and write in a new name. [/quote]

That is the correct procedure.

You vote for individuals, an you can also cross a name off the list, replace it with another, or not replace it.

[quote]No other names had been listed despite the fact that several others had presented themselves as candidates.[/quote]

A formal declaration is only required in communes of over 3500 inhabitants.

In communes of over 2500 inhabitants, individual candidates or lists of candidates make a formal declaration to recoup some of their costs.

Voters can use the lists and individual ballot papers provided or can write the name of their preferred candidate on a slip of paper, even if that person has not declared any interest in being elected.

[Will]

As Clair said, that is the normal procedure for smaller communes and exactly how it worked in our tiny commune when Judie was elected. In her case, we prepared a small 'manifesto' and she took a copy round to each household where voters lived, so they knew her name to add to the list. She also had a brief write-up and picture (with our neighbour, who was an unsuccessful candidate) in the local paper. One of the other 'hors liste' candidates supplied slips of paper with his name which electors could take to put in the envelope with the ballot paper, which is, apparently, another common and valid procedure. There were 22 different names put forward for election in our commune of 44 electors, and nearly half of these had no intention of standing.

[Callie]

Thank you Clair - for sorting out my messy quote.

Also for explaining the ins and outs of voting. I still reckon it's a bit pre-ordained. How do you explain the 3 tours ??

Mind you, although a lot of people complained, I wonder how many of them actually voted for one of the new candidates ?? A bit like when Chirac got in for his last run - I bet most people voted for him in the first tour - and then felt compelled to vote for him rather than Le Pen. When people said "It was terrible, I had to vote for Chirac to stop Le Pen getting in3 When I asked them, tongue in cheek, who they voted for in the first tour, they remained silent !

[Will]

The way it works is that if sufficient candidates to fill the number of places on the council all get votes from half or more of those voting, then it is settled at the first round. If not, then those getting the required half of votes are deemed to be elected, and there is another round where remaining candidates can stand for the places that remain. I don't know about third tours in local elections.

It all depends who is keeping an eye on the voting and the count, as there is plenty of opportunity for dodgy dealings in the French local system. So normally there are people from all factions observing things very closely in case one side or another tries to pull a fast one.

Presidential elections are a bit different. In our commune Bayrou was by far the most popular, and Royale got no votes at all. But Bayrou was eliminated on the national count, so did not go through to the next round, which Sarko won.