The atmosphere is still festive in the square of the Plaine Saint-Denis, at 8 p.m., as the football tournament organized this Sunday, June 30, draws to a close. It is followed by a bitter election night. At the end of the first round of the legislative elections caused by the dissolution of the National Assembly, the arrival in the lead of the National Rally with 34% of the votes cast heavily weighs on the atmosphere, in a constituency where the outgoing deputy Éric Coquerel (LFI) won the 2022 elections with 74% of the votes.
Hind Ayabi, who initiated the “My City Will Vote” initiative, is taking a hit, “disgusted, sickened”. For a month, with her electoral brigade, she has been roaming the working-class neighborhoods of Île-de-France to encourage their residents to vote and to block the far right. Each dressed in a t-shirt bearing the name of the collective, the small team set off to meet the inhabitants of Garges-Sarcelle (95), Châtillon (92) or Bagnolet (93) to encourage them to go to the vote place. The canvassing was only supposed to last a week and end on the evening of June 9, but the dissolution of the National Assembly and the unexpected approach of new elections decided otherwise.
On Thursday, June 27, they were in Saint-Denis, joined by Salim Dabo, founder of the local association Univers Project, and by several volunteers from the Seine-Saint-Denis association, leaflets in hand and broad smiles on their lips. “People tell us their disgust with politics, their weariness, Hind testifies. But that’s why we need to go and meet them.” Above all to provide information on the issues and the modalities of the vote.
“The RN’s speech already puts us in danger”
In the second round of the 2022 presidential election, Seine-Saint-Denis recorded nearly 40% abstention, the highest rate in mainland France. Same score for the European elections on June 9, 2024. Ibrahima, 24, admits to having nourished the ranks of abstention in the last elections. This time, he didn’t skip it. «There, it’s different, the situation is too serious,” he believes. This Sunday, June 30, he looks pained when the results are announced, but remains confident. “There is still hope”he dares.
“We have to go vote, just to save our skin”consider Salim Dabo. “The RN’s discourse on the suburbs and people of immigrant background already puts us in danger by unleashing racist speech and hatred, and it would be even worse if they came to power, advance-t-il. We can still prevent this by going to vote.”
Before June 9, no voting instructions accompanied the mobilization guide delivered by the electoral brigade. But the fear of seeing the RN come to power has changed the situation. “We must create a barrier, says Hind. So we encourage you to vote for the New Popular Front. But above all we invite you not to give your voice to the extreme right. » Upon receiving the leaflet she hands him, a man sitting on the terrace of a café says, disillusioned: “But what good is it really going to do? »“To think of a more fraternal world! »Hind retorts with a hopeful laugh.
Take the time to communicate, even with those who cannot vote
And even with those who cannot vote, the electoral brigade takes the time to discuss. “Girls, talk to your parents, to all the people around you who can go and vote, insists Souheila, a member of the electoral brigade, to a group of teenage girls sitting in the lively square of the Saint-Denis plain. Tell them it’s important!” And the young girls nodded.
A little further on, Hind films the members of his brigade in action. “There is the public that we convince face-to-face, and there are those on the networks!”she explains. On the Instagram account “Ma cité va voix”, more than a thousand people follow her. “I received messages from people telling me that they had never voted and that thanks to this account, they would go to the legislative elections, raconte Hind. It all serves a purpose. » The concept is already spreading across France, and brigades are planning to walk the streets of Marseille, Rennes, Perpignan and Mulhouse between the two rounds.
Whatever the result of July 7, Hind is already thinking about action to “reconciliation”to bring together residents of working-class neighborhoods and people living in rural areas. “We have the same problems, the same purchasing power struggles, she maintains, driven by a deep need to live together. We need to talk! »
For the moment, the urgency is electoral mobilization. Starting tomorrow, she will return with her brigade to convince working-class neighborhoods to return to the polls on July 7. “It feels like we’re fighting a battle, confides Farrah, member of “My city will vote”. But we are not going to give up, we have no choice, it is our future that is at stake.”
Find, as soon as they are officially published, the results of the 1st round of the 2024 legislative elections commune by commune
