The Les Républicains party announces Wednesday afternoon February 23 in a press release that it will “seize the public prosecutor of Paris against the newspaper Release“after the publication by the daily of an investigation which reports suspicions of fraud during the primary LR.
The newspaper Release indicated Wednesday, February 23 at noon to have led a survey based on the list of inserts at Les Républicains, the only ones eligible to vote in the party’s primary on December 4. According to Liberation, among the members who joined LR at the end of 2021, some had died and others were unable to explain how they entered the LR party.
The LR party denounces a “attempt to destabilize”. “The method used by Liberation in this pseudo ‘investigation’, an investigation based on approximations, innuendos and unfounded allegations, clearly aims to delegitimize the Republican presidential candidate”, writes the party in a press release. According to Republicans, “Release brings about a dubious confusion between a supposed ‘membership file’ and the electoral list of the ballot” of the primary.
Press release relating to the Congress of Republicans in December 2021. pic.twitter.com/mWAYW6LzHO
— Republicans (@lesRepublicains) February 23, 2022
Members who did not meet certain criteria, including having provided two means of identification and having paid a maximum of four memberships with the same means of payment, were not able to participate in the primary, specifies the party. .
Philippe Bas, LR senator from La Manche and president of the Les Républicains primary control body, estimated on franceinfo on Wednesday evening February 23 that“it is completely excluded that there is the slightest difficulty on the sincerity of the vote” during the primary in early December. “The problem we encountered in applying these rules was that they seemed to many members, especially the elderly, to be too strict”he explains, because it was necessary “pass three locks” to participate in the primary.
“148,000 people have been registered, duplicates have been identified, and this number has decreased by a few hundred, so that the list of members is correct. […] We went from 148,000 members to 139,000 voters [une fois les contrôles faits]. On the day of the vote, taking into account this requirement to pass three locks, there were 114,000 voters”specifies Philippe Bas.