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French MPs cry foul after 'ballot stuffing' in Parliament

French lawmakers called for an investigation on Friday amid suspicions of ballot-stuffing in a vote for deputy speakers in the National Assembly. A re-vote led to the election of deputies from the hard left to the centre-right, but none from the far right.

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A botched vote in France's newly elected parliament on Friday triggered allegations of ballot-stuffing, with politicians from the left and right pointing to possible fraud, reports FRANCE 24.

After two and a half hours of voting for the post of the National Assembly's deputy speakers, the ballot boxes were found to contain 10 envelopes more than the number of eligible voters.

Re-elected speaker Yaël Braun-Pivet from President Emmanuel Macron's centrist Renaissance party duly declared a re-run, prompting deputies to demand an investigation.

"Shame on those who committed this fraud," socialist lawmaker  Jérôme Guedi thundered in the chamber.

Vincent Jeanbrun, a senior figure in the right-wing Les Républicains party, said there was a "suspicion of ballot box-stuffing".

Read more of this report from FRANCE 24.