The administrative court of Orléans (Loiret) announced this Thursday the annulment of the victory of the National Rally (RN) in the municipal election of Montargis, “due to the broadcast of a defamatory video a few days before the second round”.
During the March municipal elections, the RN candidate Côme Dunis won by 59 votes in this town of 15,000 inhabitants which had been ruled by the right since 2001. He obtained 34.64% of the votes in the second round, ahead of the communist Bruno Nottin (33.10%) and the outgoing mayor, Benoit Digeon (various right), came third with 32.26% of the votes. Abstention had reached nearly 47% in this city marked by the urban riots of June 2023 and where a third of the population lives below the poverty line.
“An absolutely scandalous video viewed 24,000 times”
Côme Dunis resigned from his position as mayor at the beginning of August for medical reasons, replaced by his security deputy and former police officer, Dominique Coquelle. The two applicants Bruno Nottin (PCF) and Dalip Vehapi (PS), members of the left-wing union list, had filed an appeal denouncing “defamatory videos” and the continuation of communication actions after the end of the official campaign. “The dissemination on social networks, between the two rounds, of a video accusing Bruno Nottin of forgery in public writing” is an “established” irregularity, the Orléans administrative court ruled this Thursday. These comments are “of a defamatory nature” and were “widely disseminated, in particular by Côme Dunis”, added the court.
Bruno Nottin, clerk at the Montargis court, denounced “an absolutely scandalous video viewed 24,000 times”. “The dissemination of a defamatory message can influence the choice of a part of the voters and thus distort the results of the vote,” considers the administrative court, in particular “when there is a small difference in votes” separating the candidates. The parties and the prefect of Loiret have one month to appeal this judgment before the Council of State. In the absence of an appeal or if the judgment is confirmed by the Council of State, the organization of new elections must take place within three months.
