The Corsican Caper

IT WAS A DRUNKEN BALLOT, One newspaper headlined. PEOPLE SAW DOUBLE. And, in some cases, triple. With 4,303 registered voters in the little Corsican town of Corte, no fewer than 9,647 ballots were cast in a town council election last week. The total was something of a record, even for Corsica, where ballot boxes are called boites a surprises (surprise boxes), and electoral mischief is an honored tradition. Last week's election was held, for example, because a Nice court, citing "voting irregularities," had ruled the 1967 balloting null and void. And that 1967 election was held because the courts had been equally skeptical of the 1965 vote.

In Corte's latest escapade, one of the two voting places was controlled by the incumbents, a Socialist-led coalition, the other by Gaullists. Each group threw out the opposition's vote watchers. Free to "count" their votes in peace, the Gaullists foolishly contented themselves with 4,260 votes, 43 fewer than the total of registered voters. Their opposition took no such chance; they came in with 4,965 votes, a comfortable 662 more than the number of legal voters. The real winners? No one will know until the Nice court ponders the case of Corte's overzealous voters once again. Meanwhile, because French law dictates that the temporary winners should hold power, the anti-Gaullists will remain in office until a decision is made.

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