French Montrealers Had To Wait Hours To Vote In The France Election On Saturday (VIDEO)
A TikTok showing the massive line quickly went viral.
Long line in Montreal outside the Palais des Congrès.
If you happened to pass by Montreal's Palais des Congrès on Saturday, you're likely to have seen a massive line of people outside it. And what was such a long line for? For French nationals in Montreal to cast their ballots in the first round of voting for France's 2022 presidential election.
Once the polls opened, the official Twitter account for the Consulate General of France in Montreal provided periodic updates on the wait times to go vote.
At 12 p.m., the voting line had an estimated two-and-a-half-hour wait time to get through, according to the Twitter account.
\u00c9tat des lieux \u00e0 12h00 :\n Temps d\u2019attente estim\u00e9 : 2h30\n\nN\u2019oubliez pas votre pi\u00e8ce d\u2019identit\u00e9 ou avec photo. Suivez ce fil pour vous informer en temps r\u00e9el !— La France \u00e0 Montr\u00e9al \ud83c\uddeb\ud83c\uddf7\ud83c\uddea\ud83c\uddfa (@La France \u00e0 Montr\u00e9al \ud83c\uddeb\ud83c\uddf7\ud83c\uddea\ud83c\uddfa) 1649521497
One Montrealer, Andy-Riwan Gernet, made a TikTok documenting their wait to vote at the Palais des Congrès on April 9, and only a day later, the TikTok has over 422K views and 27K likes.
@lefrenchexplorer Armez-vous de patience et d’un bon café. #montrealtiktok #pvtistes #pvtcanada #expatlife #elections2022 @lefrenchexplorer
Clearly, people were intrigued by Montreal's voting turnout for the French elections.
And we can see why — just look at all those people waiting in line! In the video, you can see how the queue wrapped around the building.
Gernet told MTL Blog that they arrived at Palais des Congrès at 11:15 a.m. and only ended up leaving after 2 p.m., so the wait could have been even longer than estimated.
#ElectionFRMtl Les derniers votants ont pass\u00e9 le cordon \u00e0 19h. C'est dans la bo\u00eete ! Merci \u00e0 tous ! Maintenant nous allons commencer le d\u00e9pouillement.pic.twitter.com/ZD4ysLSoE6— La France \u00e0 Montr\u00e9al \ud83c\uddeb\ud83c\uddf7\ud83c\uddea\ud83c\uddfa (@La France \u00e0 Montr\u00e9al \ud83c\uddeb\ud83c\uddf7\ud83c\uddea\ud83c\uddfa) 1649545942
By 7 p.m., voting had closed and the line was no more.
Incumbent Emmanuel Macron is set to face second-place Marine Le Pen in the second-round runoff election for the French presidency on April 24.