At the Vernets fire station, around noon, you could find a queue speaking all languages that blocked two streets in Geneva. A person shouts: “We have to queue while we get here to get them fucked”. The tone rises, the irritation is felt, which gives a rather negative image of foreigners to the people of Geneva. Indeed, on Sunday 26 May 2019, the citizens of the 27 Member States are called upon to vote for their representatives in parliament, the MEPs. But in Geneva, only if they are ready to trample on 2 hours in the sun… Enough to dissuade many (sick or disabled people, parents of young children, etc.), but certainly not far-right voters.
Indeed, apart from Estonians who vote online, the consulate’s dismissive deterrence operation must be braved in order to be able to vote because the fire station is far too small to accommodate all these people. And all this to vote for representatives who have no power because it is the European Commission that has the monopoly of power and who is elected by the leaders of the Member States.
Unfortunately, this is not an isolated case. In the United Kingdom, citizens of the European Union have been denied the right to vote because of administrative error.
“I will still be there after the Europeans. You are not sure,” Macron told his ministers. This shows how European leaders give no power to this vote, apart from changing ministers, which has nothing to do with it and does not change anything. This indicates a fairly strong sense of impunity and certainly also a great deal of contempt for the power given to the people.
This contempt is not inevitable, when will online voting become a reality and not only in Estonia?
‘Vote in your own country’: EU citizens tell of UK poll chaos | Politics | The Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/may/23/vote-in-your-own-country-eu-citizens-turned-away-from-uk-polls
Le Monde : Macron : Après les européennes, moi, je serai toujours là: https://www.lemonde.fr/politique/article/2019/05/25/comment-macron-prepare-l-apres-europeennes_5467086_823448.html
Global : Tech-savvy Estonia sets example of online voting as EU elections begin: https://globalnews.ca/news/5295587/estonia-online-voting
