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In France, two ballots of employees of small businesses (known as “TPE” or “very small businesses,” those with fewer than 11 employees) were held in 2012 and in 2017 to help gauge the level of union representation in the private sector. However, these votes for union organizations, without named candidates, conducted over the internet or by post, failed to rally employees (10.4 % turnout in 2012 and 7.3 % in 2017).While several studies have looked at the difficulties of holding of these ballots and at union methods of mobilising employees of small businesses, this article provides various further ways of explaining the extremely poor turnout recorded. It has less to do with the opinions of employees than with structural factors, to wit the specificities of a ballot in which nothing is at stake, the social and economic characteristics of employees of small businesses, and the insufficiency of union presence and contacts in such businesses. Meanwhile, certain business sectors where the stakes of the ballot are a little more relevant and where corporate unions are developing service activities, such as that of the childcare assistant, show a considerably higher level of voter mobilisation.