French non-voters took to to the streets yesterday in protest at their complex voting system, in which non-existent votes were not counted in the election of the President.

French student Laurent Chad summed up the feeling. "I am furious," he said, in conveniently fluent English, "I stayed away from the polls because I'm a lazy, uninterested layabout who couldn't give a damn about politics. But it turns out that in abdicating my democratic responsibilities other people have been voting behind my back, and a far right politician has gone through to the final round. It's just not fair. We should have a system where if one person who doesn't care about issues stays at home, then another person who does care about issues also stays at home. That would balance things out. Ignorance ought to be bliss."

British prime minister Tony Blair said that such an event couldn't happen in his country. "Thankfully our political system is fully inclusive. Voter apathy spans everyone in our society, regardless of race or creed. An extreme party will never get into power here, because the way things are going, no-one at all will vote at the next election."