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Last weekend’s French presidential runoff between centrist incumbent Emmanuel Macron and far-right nationalist Marine Le Pen was notably missing a leftist candidate for the second straight election.
No need to fear: Kylian Mbappé had the left wing covered.
In the small town of Tallenay (population 411), the PSG forward accrued 10 votes Sunday, according to French outlet L’Est Republicain.
Per ESPN, the votes appear to be part of an organized effort purportedly in protest over the two candidates after 28% of registered voters in France did not vote, the highest percentage in decades.
“We saw one [vote] and then a second and a third,” Tallenay mayor Ludovic Barbarossa told Le Parisien. “They were well made, they looked like real ballot papers. The name wasn’t scribbled down quickly with a pen but was written on a computer and printed out. It didn’t seem to be the initiative of a simple joker but a concerted action.
“… Is this a bet between some friends? Did five couples have dinner together on Saturday to come up with the idea and organize themselves? Frankly I don’t know.
“In any case, I refuse to judge the actions of my constituents who came to vote. They have the right to vote [blank]. We had two other ballots with the name of the former deputy in chief with a photomontage, for example.”
However, Mbappé was too busy winning his fourth Ligue 1 title with PSG to make a concession speech this weekend. Still, the French star came within 18,768,629 votes of Macron, who may have brought stability to France but cannot say he has ever won a World Cup.
