On Monday April 11, a letter was received in many homes in Reims. In it, Arnaud Robinet, mayor (Horizons) of Reims (Marne) and Catherine Vautrin, president (LR) of the agglomeration, called to vote Emmanuel Macron (LREM) in the second round of the presidential election of 2022. Raising several questions .
It was neither a tax notice nor a postcard. In their mailboxes, many households in Reims (Marne) have discovered a rather special letter.
Signed by Arnaud Robinet, mayor (Horizons) of the city, and Catherine Vautrin, president (LR) of the agglomeration, this two-page letter was clear and clear. Because it gave a very specific voting instruction.
That of voting Emmanuel Macron in the second round of the 2022 presidential election. The latter took place on Sunday, April 24, 2022, two weeks after the mail was sent (available in the player below).
This document may have aroused certain reactions, questions, even a certain hostility. France 3 Champagne-Ardenne was able to obtain useful details from the cabinet of Arnaud Robinet and Catherine Vautrin. “It’s a relatively classic approach in electoral campaigns.”
“To tell you the truth, we were contacted on the Sunday evening of the first round, April 10 at 9:30 p.m., by Emmanuel Macron’s campaign headquarters in Paris. He sent us a draft letter and asked us if Catherine Vautrin and Arnaud Robinet would agree to co-sign this letter, to call for mobilization in favor of Emmanuel Macron.”
An unsurprising approach when we remember the favorable positioning by Arnaud Robinet et by Catherine Vautrin (by the way potential future Prime Minister) in the press at the beginning of 2022. “They obviously accepted, and simply modified the letter a little to make it their own. A few modifications were made to the proposed frame, in terms of form. Then, we didn’t take care of anything: Reims spent nothing and everything was managed by the HQ in Paris, which called on a service provider to send the mail to the Rémois.
“In terms of funding, it falls within the framework of candidate Emmanuel Macron’s campaign accounts. All of this was done within the rules and is obviously declared in the election expenses provided for by the electoral code and the financing of public life. ” An independent administrative authority (IAA), named National Commission for Campaign Accounts and Political Financing (CNCCFP), is in charge of controls and the publication of regular reports.
A footnote on the letter also indicates that its receipt is conditional on voter registrationto which the various political parties have legal access. “It’s done in a fairly classic way during presidential campaigns, and therefore in a lot of other cities in France whose mayors support Emmanuel Macron. As local elected officials, they are asked to pass on the good word of the presidential candidate.” This is the case for example of François Rebsamen, mayor (PS) of Dijon (Côte-d’Or), former Minister of Labor of François Hollande and recent support of the outgoing president.
The town hall received some postal responses “to indicate other priorities” than those expressed in the mail, which could inspire certain local policies. “Besides, following Sunday’s vote, there was an urgent need to rebuild the link between politicians and citizens. We see that there is a real issue of consultation and exchanges.” There were also more disgruntled comments on social media. “But overall, not a lot of returns because people are used to receiving this kind of documents during an election period.”
This letter may have contributed to Emmanuel Macron’s good score in Reims, the evening of the second round: 61.83%… although 5% lower than that of the 2017 presidential election. will therefore probably need more than a letter to convince part of the electorate who preferred to turn to the far right.
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