Getting Out the Vote

Measuring electoral turnout in the past was not a priority, but in France after 1789 it became quite apparent that awarding the franchise to a majority of adult males did not automatically lead to its employment. Voter fatigue soon took its toll, and exhortation usually fell on deaf ears, though electoral procedure was extremely long-winded, and the decade of Revolution was marked throughout by civil unrest and international war. When universal manhood suffrage was established in 1848, turnout was initially high, yet it was not sustained and mobilizing the electorate remained a huge challenge. It proved essential to enable and educate citizens to exercise their right to vote. As elsewhere, the electoral apprenticeship in France was thus a lengthy and uneven process, in geographical as well as chronological terms. Somewhat ironically, it was the authoritarian Second Empire that marked a vital turning point in this regard, when frequent and regular polling began to attract a consistently increasing degree of participation. By the turn of the twentieth century high levels of turnout had become the norm, not just in national elections, but also at the local level, where the habit of voting was deeply embedded.

Women Had to Wait

The process of enfranchisement for women would prove still more protracted than for men. Historians highlight the fact that the female vote in France was obtained as late as 1944, almost a century after all males were enfranchised, but this surprising delay can be partly explained by the precocious arrival of universal manhood suffrage in 1848, often simply referred to as ‘universal suffrage’ by contemporaries. Almost everywhere, there was an interval between the award of votes to men and women, usually shorter where full male suffrage arrived later. This ‘gender gap’, which has been the subject of much discussion of late, was thus exaggerated in France, but women themselves were more active and inventive in demanding the franchise than is often supposed. They were standing for election and holding local office before their right to vote was finally recognized, despite the frustration of their demands, which stemmed from a gendered ideology of citizenship and the particular resistance of male politicians in parliament. In the period after the Second World War their apprenticeship in voting was rapidly accomplished and, of late, French women have achieved a high degree of parity in elected office.

One Man, One Vote

All adults are entitled to vote today, yet this principle was not established until relatively recently. Even in the case of men, who were invariably enfranchised before women, the recognition of universal male suffrage was far more problematic than is often realized, though much has been written about it. In fact, the belief that the franchise should be awarded on the basis of certain criteria, such as property ownership or tax payment, as opposed to constituting a right of citizenship, was widely accepted during the nineteenth century, in France as elsewhere. Universal manhood suffrage was proclaimed in the French Constitution of 1793, but not implemented, and its later foundation in 1848 was unanticipated. There were also periods of reversal as well as progress, with moments of disenfranchisement, notably under the restored monarchy after 1814, but also during the First and Second Republics. Even in the early 1870s, the principle of one man, one vote was still being challenged by conservatives and its consolidation under the Third Republic was by no means preordained; it had taken nearly a century to achieve.

Gone Fishing

Non-voting has become a major issue of late as electoral participation has declined in most liberal democracies, not just in France. However, the history of voting demonstrates that this is no new phenomenon and, indeed, the problem of abstention was attracting attention from the inception of mass voting. After 1848 it would become a major preoccupation for French politicians. Proposals were frequently tabled for the vote to be made compulsory, though this would remove the liberty of not voting, while there was always disagreement over how to enforce the obligation. By the turn of the twentieth century, in the light of turnout regularly exceeding 75 per cent of the electorate, in both legislative and municipal elections, such concern might appear exaggerated. Yet the principle of representation was perceived to be at risk when electors failed to vote and there were fears that militant minorities would take control. Despite these persistent demands for compulsion, voting has remained a voluntary act in France and the civic duty to vote has been emphasized instead.

The Voters’ Choice

Designated candidates seeking office play a central role in elections today, so it is a surprise to discover that in the past voters were free to name whom they wished on their ballot papers. In France, their choice was only restricted when declared candidatures were required for election to the Chamber of Deputies after 1889, though this liberty lasted much longer when it came to local elections. This raises the question of how individuals aspiring to office put themselves forward, in the absence of manifestos or publicity, when their talents were supposed to speak for themselves. Indeed, before the French Revolution, and even afterwards, to openly seek election was regarded as a disqualification, though this created confusion as votes were widely dispersed and those elected often declined to serve. Yet the reluctance to abandon this approach was not simply attachment to tradition, rather it constituted an assertion of the voters’ sovereign right to exercise an unfettered electoral choice, and to reject those offered to them as official candidates by the government or as the nominees of political parties.

Open Secrets

Precisely how votes were to be cast had a long-contested history in France, as elsewhere. A show of hands or voice-voting was the traditional way of reaching a decision in an electoral assembly, for public voting made sense in societies where illiteracy was widespread, though it inhibited individual expression. Immense problems were accordingly created when paper-balloting was imposed after the Revolution of 1789 and demanded a new technology. A pioneering proposal for a fully secure vote was actually made during the 1790s, but it was not adopted until 1914, when the French finally introduced both an envelope for the ballot paper and a polling booth where it was inserted in private. During the intervening century, though the ballot box was made more secure, the voter’s choice had largely remained an open secret, which suited those who sought to monitor the behaviour of the mass electorate. Yet, just as the ballot paper was becoming globally accepted, mechanical and then electronic voting was invented; it is employed in many countries today, but only to a very limited extent in France.

Introduction

Free and fair elections, on the basis of universal suffrage, are a relatively recent achievement, their development deeply controversial, and how ordinary people voted in the past, as opposed to who they elected, has become an important object of scholarly research of late. France represents an excellent case study for exploring the history of voting on account of the long, uneven, and contested process of experimentation that was undertaken there. The sovereignty of the people, enunciated in 1789, was expressed in the frequent election of numerous representatives, at local as well as national level, while an enduring tradition of direct democracy also encouraged the use of referendums. France became an influential electoral laboratory as a result and much was demanded of its citizens as they learned to vote in some challenging circumstances. Their ensuing apprenticeship seemed to have been completed in the twentieth century, with the belated advent of a female franchise and consistently high turnout in all elections, but declining participation over the last few decades has raised serious doubts. This fascinating subject is tackled here on a thematic basis, highlighting candidatures and campaigning, as well as who could vote, how they did so and to what extent, beginning in the Ancien Régime and ending in the present day.

A Matter of Persuasion

How did French voters decide whom to elect to office, or which option to support in referendums? Just as declared candidatures were long resisted, so overt campaigning was condemned by custom. Yet electioneering had always been conducted, albeit in a discreet fashion, by word of mouth among family and friends, or at the electoral assemblies in which voting was conducted until 1848. The advent of a mass suffrage would ultimately change the rules of the game, but the promotion of particular individuals was long regarded unfavourably. As new practices developed, so the boundary between simply canvassing for votes and using corrupt means to secure them became more blurred. The French case suggests that there is no simple equation between democratization and a reduction in electoral fraud, for a bigger electorate offered more scope for bribery and intimidation. However, demands for electoral integrity, together with greater secrecy of the vote, gradually curbed malpractice towards the end of the nineteenth century, though new forms of fraud have emerged in the age of the Internet.

Voting as a Subversive Activity

In the second round of the presidential elections of 2017, some four million French citizens went to the polls and spoiled their ballot papers, either by casting a blank vote, or adding comments which incur invalidation. This was an unprecedented example of a largely hidden, but entrenched aspect of voting in France which is now becoming more visible, not only on account of its increasing scale, but also because images of the practice are appearing on social media. It has been referred to as ‘civic abstention’, in so far as the voter visits the polling station, only to record negative verdict, since neither blank nor annotated ballots count towards the result. This behaviour has a long history, which indicates disaffection and represents a form of protest, not simply aimed at specific candidates, or the alternatives on offer in a referendum, but questioning the electoral process itself. The French have learned to subvert as well as support their culture of elections in order to express an opinion, or make an objection, which the system of representative democracy denies them.

Conclusion

Since the turn of the twenty-first century, electoral turnout has been in general decline, not least in France, where the process of electoral acculturation has been called into question by plummeting levels of participation in legislative and municipal elections. Presidential polls are still attracting huge numbers, but in 2017 over four million voters spoiled their papers in the second round. These disturbing trends require some explanation, and they have been ascribed to disillusionment with the democratic process and a growing belief that casting a ballot achieves rather little. However, while the habit of voting is being lost, this apparent crisis of citizenship must be set in perspective, because this study has demonstrated that high turnout was not automatically generated by a mass franchise in the past. Moreover, recent research has revealed that those who never vote, or fail to register to do so, have remained in a small minority. Instead, increasing numbers are voting intermittently, choosing to exercise their right not to vote, an expression of vitality perhaps, compared to the somewhat mechanical behaviour of their predecessors. The same might be said of blank voting or annotating the ballot paper, while alternative forms of political engagement have been encouraged by the Internet. Above all, the development of women’s apprenticeship in voting has benefited from gender parity in candidatures and the number of females in elected office has increased enormously. In short, learning to vote remains a work in progress.