Twelve days before the municipal elections, the coronavirus is on everyone's mind. A poll against the backdrop of an epidemic has never been seen, and if the disease seems to be gaining ground with 191 cases in France identified Monday evening, the executive ensures for the time being that the virus does not call into question the holding of the ballot. However, practical questions arise on the organization of the vote.
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Many elected officials are already wondering: will we be able to open the polling stations in good conditions? On the side of the Association of Mayors of France, we recognize that if the disease progresses, it will be difficult to find people to keep the offices. The assessors are elected officials who can be requisitioned but the situation would be different if the officials exercise a right of withdrawal. "There are territorial agents who intervene, they are at the entrance, they count the envelopes ... Imagine that they do like the agents of the Louvre, we would be really in trouble", explains Agnès Le Brun, spokesperson for the AMF.
Reporter would pose "an equity problem"
Should the poll be postponed? Some, especially in the Oise, fear that voters are afraid to come and vote. But postponing the election only in the most contaminated cities does not seem possible. "It will pose a problem of republican equity and clarity of results," continues Agnès Le Brun.
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On the executive side, we want to be reassuring. "Worry is not enough to cancel elections. They must be held," they say to Matignon. The entourage of the Prime Minister considers that the right to vote is much higher than going to a concert or running a half-marathon.