petition for Immigration Referendum Faces Scrutiny Over Unverified Signatures
PARIS – A petition spearheaded by philippe de Villiers calling for a referendum on immigration policy in France has garnered over 1.3 million signatures, but questions are mounting regarding the validity of the support due to a lack of identity verification. Critics allege the petition is susceptible to fraudulent entries, potentially inflating the true number of individuals backing the initiative.
The controversy centers on the ease with which multiple signatures can be submitted using fabricated data. JDD journalists successfully signed the petition twice using the invented names “Jean Némard” and “Robert Patullacci” – the latter a name originating from a police sketch comedy routine - demonstrating a lack of safeguards against duplicate or false submissions.This casts doubt on the claim that 1.3 million distinct individuals genuinely support the call for a referendum.
de Villiers’ petition echoes a similar effort against the Duplomb law,which collected 2.1 million signatures. However, a key difference lies in the verification process: the anti-Duplomb petition was hosted on the national Assembly website and required signers to authenticate their identity through France Connect. The current petition lacks such a requirement, leaving it open to manipulation.
Beyond the signature verification concerns, the petition also requests signatories consent to share their email addresses with Lagardère Media News, the parent company of JDD, a weekly newspaper recently placed under the control of Vincent Bolloré, a media mogul accused of steering the publication toward a far-right editorial stance.
De Villiers frames the petition as a matter of national urgency,stating,”A petition wanted to save the bees,the birds,the floors. Today, these are the French that must be saved.” The petition’s future and potential impact on immigration policy remain uncertain as questions about the authenticity of its support persist.
