Unsettled voters. Invalid ballots in the first elections by universal male suffrage in France

The French Second Republic, born of the revolutionary upheaval of 1848, chose to dramatically expand voting rights, by instituting universal male suffrage for legislative and presidential elections. This momentous change enabled approximately eight million men to cast their ballots. Some of them were illiterate, many more were inexperienced, uncertain, unfamiliar with parties and candidates, and most made electoral choices that reflected their social background as well as specific, sometimes strident, political cultures. These uncertainties can be captured through the systematic study of invalid ballots, kept in the archives, bearing personal expressions and singular affiliations. These documents enable us to reinterpret the very act of voting and its meaning for ordinary citizens in the middle of the 19th century.

 

André Loez teaches history in Paris. His work has focused on the French army in the First World War, with a doctoral dissertation on the 1917 mutineers (Les refus de la guerre, Gallimard, 2010). He is also a public historian, and the producer of a weekly podcast, "Paroles d'histoire", created in 2018, dedicated to recent publications and historiographical debates. He is currently researching French 19th century politics.