I am going to write this post differently.  First, I will say what I will write about, then I will give you a basis of knowledge and finally, my experience.  It’s like making an ice cream sundae.  You get the bowl, put the ice cream in it and top it.

So, today I am going to talk about voting for the French president.  Now, before you ask “Why?”; let me tell you why.  It will teach you something new. (No, I do not have a second reason.)

So, you should probably be told now the differences between American and French government.

When the American president is chosen, everyone mails their votes or puts it on a piece of paper which goes into a box called a ballot box. Say, Fiona, (mentioned in “interview with Fiona”) and I wanted to be president.   But, one thing you have to remember is that there are rules for being president of the United States.  One of them is that you have to be 35 or older to run for president.

Fiona is 1 or 2 and I am 11ish (which in reality is 13 in bear years).  But, say we passed the requirements.  Then, if California had more overall votes for me than for Fiona; I “got the state”.  The person who gets the most out of the 50 states is president.

In France however, there is only one country.  No states.  Everyone votes, all of the people who want to be president get votes.  French people in L.A. vote, along with all other French citizens across the world, and they all go vote again.  Then, if after the first round one person got more than half of the votes, then they will be president.  This has never happened. 

After the second round, all the votes are counted and the person with the most votes is president!

So, that is the process and differences between American and French elections.  Now, how voting in L.A. works:  You go where the voting takes place, (its best and more peaceful later in the day).  You walk and have your French passport or I.D. checked multiple times.  You then go and take these cards.  They are on a table and have names of candidates on them.  You get as many as you want and go into a little stall.  It has a curtain and you close it.  You then write your vote on the back of the card and put it in an envelope.  You seal it and put it into a box called the ballot box.  Your passport or I.D. is checked again and you leave.  The reason that you pick a bunch of cards is so that your vote can not be recognized by passersby. 

Finally, I will tell you my experience.  My friend knows a guy that is French and he let us go with him.  It felt like I was in the car for years!  When we got there, we walked inside. We had gone later in the day, so it was calm.  People checked passports and I.D.s. We grabbed a bunch of cards and the lady at the desk said that if I ran for president, she would vote for me! But, that bears and other animals are not allowed to vote.

We went into the curtains, which were purple, and the guy (I do not remember his name), wrote down his vote.  His passport was checked again and he put his vote in the box.  I hope that you enjoyed today’s post.  If you wonder what happened next… we just left.

So, until my next post, au revoir (which means good bye in French)