I would be incensed too! I hope she’s going to follow this up. EU have been able to vote for 30+ years, so this is not new.
Depuis le traité de Maastricht (1992), les ressortissants de l’Union européenne peuvent cependant participer aux élections locales et européennes.
Good grief, what a shock for her… being turned away.
When did your wife get herself Registered to Vote?
and under what Nationality is she on the Register??
I know that la Presse has previously been urging people to check their Registration to Vote was in order… perhaps there’d already been a glitch.
She has been registered for (at least) 2 years, and specifically double-checked her registration status about 6 weeks ago with the Mairie. She is registered as a Luxembourg/EU citizen.
Bizarre then… but I’m wondering if the Registration process ticked both boxes.. European and Municipale elections or left the Municipal one unticked.
I know we have foreigners who are not registered for “both” but have made a choice about which French one they wish to vote in…
Either way, she will need to ensure things are corrected asap!!! She has the right to Vote … so good luck to her!
Absolutely, Fran and I voted every year until Brexit, and a Scottish friend even stood for election. Only being Maire is subject to nationality.
In small communes there’s probably a second register for non French voters there is here. If I were her I’d kick up a bit of a fuss and demand that my vote can’t be registered because they can’t find me on the list, this will and should be written in the journal.
I remember a time when the locals and regionals were held on the same day. One of the officials handed us both 2 envelopes but the person next to her snatched one back saying ‘not that one’. I was a bit peeved because I thought that, being banned from them in England we should have both here, but that was the law.
Good point. Elections have been annulled for these sorts of things so the officials should not dismiss her.
@George1
How did things turn out? With only one Liste, her missing Vote will not have affected the results, but her situation certainly needs questioning and correcting… did other foreigners get similar treatment ?
Useful link to check what’s what across France
Thanks for asking Stella. She phoned the Elections official at the Mairie this morning to say that she’d been prevented from voting yesterday, on the grounds that she is not a French citizen, despite being an EU citizen. The official replied “yes, that’s correct”. (It was probably her that the election officials in the bureau de vote had called yesterday to check). My wife pointed out that Service Publique on its website specifically confirms that EU citizens resident in France and registered to vote are entitled to vote. There was a long pause the other end, then a slightly panicky note entered the voice of the official.“Oh” she said. Sound of rustling through papers.
“Ah,” she said triumphantly “ you’re only registered to vote in Euro elections not local elections”. My wife pointed out that she had specifically been into the Mairie to check this very point a few weeks ago and all was pronounced to be in order. So my wife will - yet again - go to the Mairie to ask them to confirm face to face that she is registered to vote at all future relevant elections. She suspects the Mairie official really hadn’t understood about EU citizens being able to vote in the locals and therefore simply hadn’t bothered to register her for them. I wish she’d added @JaneJones point about the 1992 Maastricht Treaty granting EU citizens the right to vote locally some 34 (!) years ago, but she felt the point had been made by other means.
It’s interesting to speculate what might have happened if the vote had been very close.
Depending on the severity of the “incorrect/mishandling (whatever)”
I’ve known the Vote be considered null and void and the whole darn shooting match had to be done over again… 
Hmm.. I hope the whole Electoral Register will be re-examined to check the situation of other Europeans living in your commune. (possibly this has to be done at Prefectoral level ??)
If there’s someone like George1’s wife in Narbonne, they could have affected the result yesterday. The current mayor missed being re-elected by one vote.
?? Mayor was re-elected with healthy gap to next right wing candidate ? But yes those situations are fraught.
Maybe I’ve misunderstood?
Yes and no! Because he didn’t get that vote it’s not enough to be elected on the first round, so will go to a second vote. But given the make up of Narbonne he’ll get it on second round.
Personally I think anyone who pays local taxes should be able to vote in local elections and anyone who pays income tax and social contributions should be able to vote in national election. Citizen or not.
No taxation without representation and all that.
But I can’t disagree with your maire regarding Brexit
So do I, but on the other hand we pay national taxes too, so what would be the point of citizenship?
BTW @Jennifer11 , I don’t think Maires are elected by the populace but by the members of their party, or rather the newly elected councillors. I remember when we did have a vote we, with much of the commune gathered for the count and again at the first council meeting where the Maire was elected.
I was very impressed with the turnout and enthusiasm.
I think anyone who has been resident for 5 years should be allowed to vote. People just here a year or so, and maybe just blow-ins and not staying, may not consider their vote in local context.