Even though they hardly interest the general public, who are not called to vote, the senatorial elections are stirring up the political scene: 10 candidates have declared themselves.
The senatorial election is unique. It is not the people who are called to vote (direct universal suffrage), but a group of « grand electors » delegated by municipal councils (proportional to the population), departmental and regional councillors, as well as parliamentarians. Depending on the size of the departments (and the number of senators to be elected), it is either a proportional (list system) or a majoritarian (single-member) election, as is the case in the Hautes-Pyrénées, where 873 grand electors are called to vote on Sunday, September 24th.
There are 10 candidates at the start.
In 2017, Maryse Carrère and Viviane Artigalas were elected, despite facing a large number of candidates, as both seats were vacant. The situation is different this year, as both senators have decided to run for re-election, making it difficult for competitors to unseat them. As a result, there was a concern that there would be a shortage of candidates, but this is not the case as there are 10 candidates in total, including the two incumbents and eight new applicants, representing the entire political spectrum. However, the political landscape is somewhat fragmented in this case, as the Nupes party seems to no longer exist, at least in this election. While it was expected that there would be a joint candidacy, even though Viviane Artigalas is a socialist, the other factions of the Nupes party are running separately.
La Nupes « explose »
And according to various actors, it is not for lack of trying to build a common candidacy… Another « curiosity » is the candidacy of José Sanchez-Perez and Olivia Carrasco, two former « Marcheurs » (the latter was the departmental representative) who have joined the Europe Equality Ecology movement. An election that is ultimately much more political than it may seem at first glance, at least for the average citizen…
