Midterms: An American Votes from France
America's midterm election isn't at the top of everyone's mind but voting is more important than ever for this American living in France.
I’m not about to tell you how you should vote. This post is about how it feels to be an American living in France during a major election and the similarities and differences between our two democracies. I consider myself very political but I was uneducated about French democracy until this year. Hope it helps!
Americans, this may come as a shock, but right now we are not the center of global media attention. That’s because le monde c'est le bordel.1
Today our local paper, Sud Ouest, is rightfully preoccupied with Ukraine, the French fuel crisis, and a series on local Femincides.2 The international section for the French national paper, Le Monde, features the presidential election threatening democracy in Brazil, German cyber security experts colluding with Russia, and the United Kingdom’s calls for action against China.3
But selfishly, as an American facing one of the most consequential elections of her lifetime, I keep searching for a sign that the world is worried about November’s midterm election. The reality is the rest of the world is too tired, angry and scared to pay attention and the majority of Americans are, too. At least 80% of Americans are not paying attention to politics. Many have no idea what midterm elections are.
The 2022 midterm elections will be held on Tuesday, November 8, 2022. All 435 seats in the House of Representatives and 35 of the 100 Senate seats will be contested. This election determines which party, Republican or Democrat, will control the ability to set laws and policy that will affect all American lives for generations to come, even Americans living in France.
Witnessing the last French presidential election in person was eye-opening. I live in France but didn’t get to vote on a president who would, to a very large extent, govern our lives.4 I felt vulnerable in a way I have never felt before. Everyone around me was voting but I could not. It made me that much more determined to vote in any and all American elections in which I am eligible. It took the experience of being ineligible to vote to truly know the power of voting.
I found a charming article about what it feels like to be French living in North America during the French presidential elections. I appreciate that some voters felt like they were choosing between “clowns.” I also appreciate how it feels to be connected to home by voting, especially when you’re the only ones in town casting a ballot on election day. When we drop our mail-in ballot at la poste we feel a wave of joy and pride: We are Americans and we are voting from this French town!
Mailing our US ballots from Bayonne. I used a bunch of tape to aggressively seal my ballot so it cost more than my husband’s to mail. Photo by Regina Sinsky-Crosby
One of my French friends was curious about the differences between how Americans and French vote. It was a great research project for me and I’ll share a bit here.
This is how French24.com explains the midterm election to French readers:
“As midterm elections loom in the United States, President Biden hopes to keep a Democratic majority in at least one of the two houses of Congress. The Republicans, whose campaign has been partly vampirized by the presence of Donald Trump, hope for at least the same success.”
I have to translate most of what I read in French but the word vampirisé followed by “Donald Trump” needed no explanation. What did need an explanation for my French friend is our massively divided two party system.
The two-party democratic system in America is not the only cata totale in the world (looking at you, Brexit) but unlike other countries “America’s relatively rigid, two-party electoral system stands apart by collapsing a wide range of legitimate social and political debates into a singular battle line that can make our differences appear even larger than they may actually be,” writes Pew Research. We are currently divided deeper than most democratic countries. This level of political divide is a canary in the democratic coal mine and may be a sign of things to come for other countries including France.
From abortion to guns, gay marriage to funding public education, book bans to how we teach American history in classrooms, the vastness of American political divide is stunning to the French. Another thing that surprises them is the fact that we vote on weekdays.
The French vote on Sundays and have significantly higher voter turnout than America, sometimes up to 80%. In the last French presidential election more than 70% of voters participated. In the United States 2020 was a record turnout with roughly 66% of voters participating. Americans hold presidential elections every four years and midterm elections halfway through a president’s term. Midterms consistently draw a lower turnout with only about 40% of those eligible to vote participating.
The French did away with midterms back in 2020 to prevent a divided government. A six-year term alignment is often discussed in America but seems unlikely. Sigh. With so few people voting do these midterms really reflect the desire of America? Instead it seems a minority of fired up voters decide the country’s fate. The squeaky wheel gets the grease (or the vampire gets the blood).
Another difference between how French and Americans vote is that France has compulsory elections for senate seats. France doesn’t have an electoral college (if it did France may have ended up with Le Pen). Don’t get me started on the American electoral college.
What America does have in common with France is a broken immigration system and deep fears about housing and cost of living. There is a rising threat of fascism and autocracy. The Covid 19 pandemic has hurt us in ways we won’t truly understand nor recover from for generations. There’s already talk of “the next pandemic.” We have a lot of scary stuff (political vampires) in common.
But we also have democracy in common and the very urgent, very real need to protect it. Even with different party structures and methodologies our countries are models for global democracy. If one falls the other won’t be far behind. Whether you say liberty or liberté the word has the same meaning. We must vote like our freedom depends on it. Because this November it does.
This week I am making sure our mail-in ballots arrive here in France and then get back to America to be counted. Find out how to vote internationally here or checkout these FAQ.
If you are an American in America and need to register, click here.
For Californians living abroad the REGISTRATION DEADLINE to be eligible to vote in the November 8, 2022, California Gubernatorial General Election is October 24, 2022.
If you’re a political junky (Hi, friend! I feel your pain!) and want to know if Americans or French have a better electoral system, click here.
Today I will be incorporating new expressions for disaster from my favorite news source for Americans living in France, TheLocal.FR. If you are even considering moving to France I suggest you subscribe.
This word is controversial. There is some concern that because the murder of a woman is called Femincide and not just meurtre it has lead to lighter prosecution. We don’t have a different word for “when a woman is murdered” in English. Please don’t give Republicans any ideas.
The news is un cauchemar. Living in France during a European war is scary. I have the “Nuke Map” bookmarked and have researched iodine doses for children. One of my friends living in Amsterdam, where winter is apparently underway in October, just told me to invest in electric heating pads for each family member to save money on our heating bills.
One presidential candidate was pushing for a French language requirement for visas. Thankfully this racially-motivated policy was unpopular economically. A year ago we wouldn’t have passed such a test. We moved to France primarily for our children’s fluency and viewed any progress in our French as a bonus. After this year I hope to speak enough French to pass the residency test.