MINISTER OF JUSTICE N. BELLOUBET UNVEIL APPLICATION OF POSTAL VOTE FOR DETAINEES

USPA NEWS - The Law of Programming 2018 - 2022 and Reform for Justice, adopted on March 23, 2019, establishes the postal vote as a new voting modality offered to the detainees in the framework of the 2019 European elections.Detainees who so wished were able to vote, for the first time, by correspondence in the institution that hosts them. Voting by mail is in addition to proxy voting and permission to go out to create a device that has allowed about 4,500 detainees to exercise their right to vote more easily in European elections.

A VERY IMPORTANT MOBILIZATION OF THE DETAINEES The voting operations took place in 165 establishments in Metropolitan France and Overseas, from May 16 to 23, 2019. All votes were sent securely to Paris to the Independent Electoral Commission. The counting took place place Vendome at the Chancellery Sunday, May 26, 2019. More than 50 volunteers volunteered on this occasion. The mobilization for the postal vote is illustrated by a record participation rate: ï‚· 5184 people were allowed to vote by post, ï‚· 4413 people actually voted, ï‚· a participation rate for the 89.42% postal vote. In addition, 110 prisoners were able to vote by proxy (out of 149 applications) and 45 temporary absences were granted (out of 82 applications). A LARGE SCALE DEVICE TO PROMOTE CITIZEN EXPRESSION Prison officials have been largely active in ensuring that detainees are aware of the different voting arrangements and conditions, and inform them of their rights. With regard to postal voting, an unprecedented modality, an information system and a large-scale organization were deployed by the staff in the 10 interregional directorates and by 340 election referents.---------------------------------------------------------- In the autumn, dedicated partnerships were set up, with the aim of raising the awareness of prisoners about the role of voting as a citizen and that of the European institutions. In the months leading up to the vote, prisons and probation and prison services carried out information and consultation activities with the help of the national education authorities, associations of access to law , and experts on citizenship and Europe. The exercise of their right to vote by detainees allows them to regain their identity as a citizen and is a vector of insertion in their path of execution of the sentence. Source : Minister fo Justice