At around 8:45 p.m. Sunday, four strangers, sat down silently at Table No. 1. We were there to count votes for our precinct in the arrondissement’s mayoral election. Opening the majority of small blue envelopes with folded A4 pages produced legitimate results. Near the end of the evening, I unfolded a surprise vote in one of the small blue envelopes emblazoned with “Republique Française”. Batman received one vote and his list of legislative proposals included Superman (no. 2), Wonder Woman (no. 3), Flash (no. 4) and Green Lantern (no. 5). The original ballot was complete with icons, titles and other symbols. This ballot attracted a lot of attention, photographs, smiles…

Voting in France on Sundays is very civilized, democratic and easy. The procedure seems a bit provincial. This feeling of being in the countryside is special in the big city of Paris. Our Bastille neighborhood votes at a local elementary school around the corner. It is special because there is a sense of community. The transition is fast. Within ten days of the results, the new president is sworn in. There seems to be no influence peddling (lobbyists) running the show.  During the election period, campaigning is done with speeches and television appearances, but handouts at the market are no where to be seen. There is no talk of spending millions on…