Although the dissolution of the National Assembly came as a great surprise to them, Saintine, 89, and Madeleine, 97, are above all determined to fulfil their civic duty.
Who said that the European elections don’t interest many people in France? At the Val-d’Auron nursing home in Bourges, 11 of the approximately 60 residents wanted to take part in the European elections on June 9: eight voted by proxy, and three “in person”, including Éliane, 102 years old! “And it wasn’t easy,” assures the host, Katia Aurat, who had to help this determined voter reach her polling station, then support her all the way to the voting booth.
The excitement has increased a notch in the run-up to the legislative elections. No fewer than fourteen proxies have been registered in the ranks, and the vote and its express electoral campaign are causing quite a stir.
14 proxies
“These residents follow the news,” assures Katia Aurat. They read Le Berry republican, and carefully. Eleven of them are also subscribers. And every Wednesday, we carry out a press review. It is especially local current affairs issues that hold their attention, they discuss them a little among themselves…”
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The last subject to have moved these weary readers? The difficulties of recruiting hospital and personal assistance staff, of course. As for politics… “The decision of the president (Emmanuel Macron to dissolve the National Assembly on the evening of the result of the European elections, Editor’s note) surprised them a lot,” notes their host.
The campaign is in full swing and Saintine, “90 years old in October, and in the nursing home for nine years”, has carefully completed her proxy request.
“For me,” she said with a little smile, “it’s very important to vote. I absolutely want to, because there are a lot of injustices!”
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Originally from Italy, Saintine’s family moved to Tunisia, “at the time a French protectorate”, when Mussolini took power. Later, they went to France and were naturalized. Saintine worked for a long time as a switchboard operator at La Poste, her husband at EDF. “With age, I had to look after him for a long time, and also my mother-in-law, and a child to support,” she remembers. Three people depended on me alone, night and day, and I was never entitled to anything to help me! It’s not normal, a situation like that!”
It is “in the hope that things will change” that Saintine will vote.
Madeleine is 97 years old. On the walls of her room are photos of the many poodles she has had. “For the Europeans, I traveled,” she says, “but with many difficulties. As long as I was able to move around, even with difficulty (she uses a walker, Editor’s note), I did it. But here, it’s my cousin who will vote for me…”
“Going to vote is especially important for young people”
According to her, “voting, no matter how much we say, is very, very important. Not too much for me, of course, but for young people. It’s already not easy, so we have to vote, it’s important for the future. »
Madeleine may not hear as well as she used to, but she still has clear ideas. She is happy that “we are finally having a beautiful sunny day, it is about time.”
She used to work “thirty-four years at Aubrun, just think! I started in sewing, then I moved on to sales and ended up in the offices, it was still less painful, with age…”
Madeleine goes to take a few steps in the courtyard of the establishment, in the sun. “You see, voting is very important to them,” assures Katia Aurat. “It’s a lot of effort, no doubt, but they make it a duty, that’s really the word.”
Emmanuel Letreulle
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