The French presidential election has been hit by another hacking scandal. This came only a couple of weeks after the news that someone managed to gain access to confidential information held on a computer belonging to an employee of the far-right Front National. The candidacy of prominent right-wing politician Jean-Marie Le Pen may now suffer as a result. One man, the owner of the computer that was infiltrated, was briefly arrested but then released.
The incident took place last week at the party’s headquarters, where a hacker broke into one of the computers and managed to steal a list of elected officials across France who had agreed to back Le Pen’s candidature at the elections. The French electoral system demands that a candidate be endorsed by at least 500 of the existing 42,000 elected officials. The list of officials supporting Le Pen has now been made public, leading to suggestions that those who have given their voice to back the far-right politician may now remove their vote of confidence. At a press conference held last week Le Pen claimed that at least 20% of these votes had already gone as a result of the leak.
The far-right politician himself maintains that there has been a concerted campaign against him, aimed at removing him from running in the election. Last time round, in 2002, Le Pen stunned the French by claiming second place, highlighting serious divisions in French society.
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