The government has therefore decided: the second round of municipal elections will take place on June 28 in about 5,000 municipalities. But after almost two months of confinement in an attempt to stem the coronavirus pandemic, the voting conditions will be special, with strict sanitary rules to be respected. "Each voter must wear a protective mask", even the general public, and will be invited to sign with their personal pen, announced the Minister of the Interior Christophe Castaner. However, wearing a mandatory mask is in contradiction with the electoral code and the need to show your face to vote.
>> LIVE - Coronavirus: follow the evolution of the situation on Saturday 23 May
Before voting, you must "have your identity verified"
Voting with a mask is usually prohibited. Because it is necessary to "establish his identity", explains the electoral code. A few weeks before the first round of the municipal elections, Christophe Castaner reminded him: "A veil framing the face does not prevent the identity of the voter from being checked. On the other hand, if the identity of a person cannot be established because of a veil masking the mouth and nose, the polling station can ask him to remove this veil in order to check his identity. In the event of refusal, the person cannot be admitted to vote ", detailed the ministry of Interior in a circular published on January 16.
CORONAVIRUS ESSENTIALS
> Deconfinement: what could the new card presented on June 2 look like?
> Coronavirus: 5 mistakes not to make with your mask
> Coronavirus: the French Academy has decided, it will now be necessary to say "the" Covid-19
> Statistical corrections, rounded averages ... exceptional measures for the bac 2020
> Antibodies, reinfection, mutation: three questions on immunity to the coronavirus
> Why are French nurses among the lowest paid in Europe?
A first adaptation in early March
But since then, the coronavirus has been there. On March 9, Christophe Castaner publishes a new circular, six days before the first round of the municipal elections where, context requires, he talks about wearing a mask. "If the mask does not prevent verification of the identity of the voter, he is not required to remove it", states the circular ... and in case of doubt, "the members of the polling station may ask him to remove his mask momentarily. " However, the doctors hammer it: once worn, the mask should no longer be handled.
>> Watch Bernard Poirette's morning show in replay and podcast here
At the time, the mask was not compulsory and was even not recommended for non-patients. But at the end of June, things will be very different, since the members of the polling station will also have to wear a surgical mask. A new circular must therefore be published soon by Place Beauvau concerning the modalities of the second round ballot, unless the latter is postponed again. Friday, Edouard Philippe warned: "The decision to hold the second round of municipal elections on June 28 is reversible".