The approximately 300 members of the Socialist Federation of French Citizens Abroad are the only ones to vote by electronic vote. And will be the only ones not to have a say in the name of the next PS Prime Secretary. They had started voting since Wednesday noon, in order to choose the next orientation text of the party, between the texts of three candidates: the outgoing First Secretary Olivier Faure, the mayor of Rouen Nicolas Mayer-Rossignol, and the mayor of Vaulx- in Velin Hélène Geoffroy.
Their vote was indeed canceled after an irregularity was found. The vote of French people living abroad had been entrusted to an external service provider, “neutral”, but “on Wednesday, obviously, there was a technical bug exploited by someone”, which resulted in ” a theft of files”, indicates the number 2 of the party Corinne Narassiguin, warned in the night. She deplores “a malicious act” and does not consider “it is normal that such a file exists”.
“The party leadership failed to organize a secure vote”
“We will continue the investigation,” she said, indicating at this stage that she had no knowledge of fraudulent votes, but the entire voting process was immediately stopped and canceled, especially since the listing was then sent to all members. According to Patrick Menucci, close to Hélène Geoffroy, a member “entered the menu” of the electronic voting platform and “discovered a listing with the names, identifiers, passwords of all members. He warned everyone. “It is serious, there is a certain suspicion. How and why was such a list made? he wonders.
“The existence of this document irremediably taints the sincerity of the vote”, denounced the federal representatives of Nicolas Mayer-Rossignol’s motion in a press release, regretting that “the party leadership failed to organize a secure vote”.
The vote of members from abroad cannot be integrated into the result of the national vote, expected overnight from Thursday to Friday. The rest of the approximately 41,000 socialist members are called to vote this Thursday between 5 p.m. and 10 p.m. in the premises of the sections. The two candidates whose motions come first will be decided in a second round on the 19th, before a Congress scheduled for January 27 to 29 in Marseille.