When is a ballot considered blank? During the count, a vote is counted as blank when an envelope is “empty or containing a ballot without any candidate’s name”, sums up Vie Publique. This vote is considered as “a desire to stand out from the choice offered by the election”. In 2017, for example, during the second round of the presidential election already opposing Emmanuel Macron and Marine Le Pen, nearly three million voters had voted white, or 8.5% of voters. A figure that could happen again on April 24. The invalid vote, on the other hand, corresponds to “torn or annotated ballot papers which are not taken into account in the results of the election”. 2 months from the 1st round, I’m starting to publish a daily tweet in line with @renaud_epstein (🙏): One day, a ballot (archived) 🗳️[ici, issu du 1er tour de la Présidentielle 2012 – Archives départementales de l’Oise ⬇️] pic.twitter.com/7pVODLNKVc— Jérémie Moualek (@JeremieMoualek) February 10, 2022 Why is the blank vote not counted?Blank votes do not count in the votes cast. They are, in a way, erased from the final results. However, since a law dated February 21, 2014, blank votes are counted separately from invalid votes, in order to differentiate the two approaches. In France, several associations campaign for the recognition of the blank vote during elections. Experienced as an injustice or a democratic anomaly in the eyes of many voters, the blank vote was one of the strong demands of the yellow vests, at the height of the demonstration in 2019. Regularly, elected officials ask that the blank vote be counted, at the image of Jean Lassalle. Guest of RMC on April 1, the candidate for 3.13% in the first round, wanted “the blank vote to be counted. Mr. White, maybe the first ”.🎙 “The white vote must be counted. Mr. White can be first and then we will finally start the debate”. RMC (@RMCInfo) April 1, 2022 Are the French in favor of it? The consideration of the white vote is not a measure only carried by the yellow vests. According to a YouGov poll commissioned by the “HuffPost” dated March 31, 2022, 66% of those polled demand that the white vote in the presidential election be taken into account, i.e. more than one in two French people. A will that transcends all political divisions. “Recognition of the blank vote is desired in all political families in France, from the far left to the far right through the center,” says the “HuffPost”.