The news broke on the evening of Friday May 22. The election of the mayor of Laroque-d’Olmes, a town in the department of Ariège, was annulled by the courts. An opponent of the winning candidate won his case in court. Will residents return to the voting booth soon?
It’s a clap of thunder that has just fallen on the town of Laroque-d’Olmes, in Ariège. Patrick Laffont, the mayor re-elected in the first round of the municipal elections on March 15, 2026, has just received a resounding decision from the administrative court. His election is officially canceled, after the request submitted by his opponent Lucas Gracia, member of the list of Florence Mola and his running mates.
In this decision, made public by making it available to the registry on May 20, 2026, the administrative court considers that the electoral operations must be canceled. The judgment also provides for the payment of 1,500 euros to Lucas Gracia for legal costs.
A vote “in conditions which did not guarantee its sincerity”, accused Lucas Gracia
In April, a few days after the elections, Lucas Gracia indicated that he had filed an appeal with his list. According to him, the vote took place “in conditions which did not guarantee its sincerity”.
In the sights of the candidate’s running mate, the municipal bulletin of the commune, dated February 21, less than a month before the first round. “Patrick Laffont candidate for a third term” was notably written there. A clarification not to the taste of the applicant, for whom it “takes on a clear electoral character, devoid of any neutrality”.
From an election in the first round to defeat in court… Towards an appeal?
Patrick Laffont was re-elected in the first round, with a score of 53.71% of the vote.
At this stage, no official communication had yet been publicly released by the municipality at the time of writing these lines. The municipality, however, has the possibility of appealing to the Council of State.
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If this cancellation is confirmed by the supreme administrative jurisdiction, new municipal elections should be organized within a maximum period of three months. In the meantime, the elected officials currently in place could continue to manage the municipality until a final decision.
This affair could therefore open a new political sequence in Laroque-d’Olmes, where the municipal vote had already been the subject of disputes for several weeks.
