Description

The project from 9 to 28 September provides for Parisians to select and choose the projects of the participatory budget by awarding them a rating. 

The choice is between : 

• " I love it", 
• "I like it, it's interesting",
•  "Why not", or 
• "I'm not convinced".

On the paper forms, voters will only have to tick an emoticon: a heart, a thumbs up, a doubtful face, a thumbs down.

217 projects are in the running, from the creation of a dog park in La Chapelle to the cleaning of the walls of the Passy cemetery and the opening of bicycle repair workshops across the city. Depending on the proportion of each icon at the end of the vote, 59 projects will be selected and carried out with the city's money.

A new tool from Anne Hidalgo, the mayor of Paris, who is especially dedicated to citizen consultations, it is also an unprecedented test for the "majority judgment", this original voting method. 

The majority judgment method 

The majority judgment is a voting method that allows voters to better express their opinion. Thus, by choosing one of the four proposed mentions, it is possible to qualify the choice and reject projects that are not among the personal preferences. All projects are evaluated independently of each other. The choices are more democratic and consensual: the best evaluated project wins the vote.

Invented by two CNRS researchers, Rida Laraki and Michel Balinski, who patented it in 2009, the majority judgment method has so far only been used on a small scale. 

In 2016, 32,685 voters took part in the vote organised by Laprimaire.org to select their "citizen candidate" for the presidential election, Charlotte Marchandise.

In 2020, around 28,000 people took part in the vote on the 149 proposals of the Citizens' Climate Convention. 

La République en marche (LRM) also used majority judgment, but only for the selection of its local animators by activists, resulting in 1,500 very small elections across France.

For more information: 

THE PARTICIPATORY BUDGET IN PARIS

• The PB is an investment proposal submitted by citizens, which is then analysed and put to the vote of the inhabitants.
• There are two types of project: 
  • District projects les projets d'arrondissements district projects 
  • All Paris Projects les projets tout Paris 
• All Parisians can vote, regardless of age or nationality. 
• It is possible to submit a project on an individual or collective basis (association, group of neighbours, friends, students from the same class or school, etc.)
• Projects can only be submitted on the participatory budget website each year. (it is necessary to create an account on Paris.fr beforehand) 
• To be eligible, a project must meet four basic criteria:
  • to be deposited by an individual or a group of Parisians 
  • to be useful to the inhabitants of Paris in their own district. 
  • be within the competence of the city of Paris.
  • be an investment expense and not an operating expense
• To vote, it is necessary to give his opinion on at least 4 'All Paris' projects and at least 4 district projects. 
• This year, the vote will be based on the majority judgment!
• Citizens will be able to choose from the following ratings: "I love it", "I like it", "Why not" and "I am not convinced".

Sources (in french) : 

Paris tests majority voting: Lemonde.fr 

The Participatory Budget in Paris: Paris.fr 

Reinventing our democracy with majority voting: Horizonspublics.fr