French Regionals 2010

[Kevinstat]

An early start to the thread...

Regional elections for the regional legislatures of 26 "regions" (22 in France in addition to Martinique, Guadeloupe, Reunion, Guyane) are being held in March 2010 (probably the 21st and 28th, as in 2004), six years after the 2004 elections, a nightmare for the right.

The current electoral system was adopted in 2003 (the same time as the Euros electoral reform) to ensure permanent, stable majority administrations in all regions. The system used is a two-round system, with 10% of votes cast (suffrages exprimés, as opposed to registered voters, or inscrits, used in legislative elections) as a threshold for a spot in the runoff. However, if a list gets over 5% of votes cast, it can "merge" with a qualified list, meaning that the defeated list get spots on the list it merged with. For seats, there is a 5% threshold in the runoff. The winning list in the runoff automatically gets a fourth of the seats as a majority bonus, and the remaining seats are attributed proportionally, first on a region-wide basis and then divided up by 'section' (departments) based on the votes in each 'section'.

...all of this is true for all regions... except Corse - where the threshold for the runoff is 5%.

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In that example, could the Greens and the UDF have merged with each other?  They got over 10% of the vote between them.  I know they wouldn't, but I'm not sure if they could.

I imagine any lists getting more than 5% of the vote in the first round (where no party has gotten a majority, in which case I know there is no runoff), can merge in the runoff in Corsica.  Is the qualifying threshold in the non-metropolitans the same as on the mainland?  Or is it the same as Corsica?  Or is it something different?

[Kevinstat]

Georges Frêche (IND): 58%
Raymond Couderc (UMP): 28%
France Jamet (FN): 14%

*facepalm*

Let's all say a big thanks to the PS, again! "Principles and values" in the first round, but no "principles and values" in the runoff. Let's all vote for a so-called leftist (Pierre Laval was also a member of the SFIO, so I suppose the PS would vote Laval in a race against him and Couderc...) because he's not a rightist, even if the leftist is a racist populist of the 1930s kind.

What would you have them do?  Abstain in the runoff?  Or vote for Couderc?  Or have the L-R PS leadership not endorse any list?

Did any of the three lists in Languedoc-Roussillon getting between 5% and 10% of the vote merge into Frêche's list?  (Or Couderc's?  I'm sure none of them merged into FN's.)  Both Frêche and Couderc were offering some seats on their list to at least one of EE, FG and PS right, although I guess Couderc's "grand coalition" offer wasn't taken seriously.