REPORTAGE – As with every American election for the past 100 years, Europe’s oldest cocktail bar organizes a mock vote for Americans living abroad or on vacation in France. In a century, the result has differed from the official vote only three times.
A red cap on his head, Tom smiles broadly as he hesitantly slips a ballot into the box, under the amused eye of his partner Megan. The Minnesota couple, on vacation in Paris, have just voted for Kamala Harris. Yet the setting has nothing to do with an embassy. The backdrop is a display case of great Scotch whiskies: a 1991 Macallan, an 18-year-old Glenlivet… Behind, a mahogany bar polished by thousands of elbows stands beneath an imposing mirror inscribed with the names of the two candidates for the prestigious award. the American presidential election associated with a number: Kamala Harris – 360 and Donald Trump – 383.
Every four years for the past 100 years – with the exception of 2020, Covid obliges – Harry’s bar has been organizing a “straw vote (“straw vote”), a mock election in which expatriate or visiting Americans can choose their future president. The rules are…