France: polling stations open for second round. Unknown abstention

2020-06-28T08:05:48.174Z

French voters began voting at 8 am this morning for the 2nd municipal round, amid unprecedented precaution for the Coronavirus epidemic. The first round had taken place amid a thousand controversies on March 15, for the determination of the government - recommended by the scientific committee - to respect the electoral calendar. The ballot should have been voted on March 22, but France began its anti-Covid lockdown that week. Participation marked an all-time low, with 44.3% of voters in polling stations. This figure remains the main unknown factor in the ballot, to which the candidates of La Republique en Marche, the party of Emmanuel Macron, who risk losing in all the big cities, are in great difficulty. Eyes on Paris, where Anne Hidalgo's confirmation appears certain, on Le Havre, where the victory of Premier Edouard Philippe, Lille (the risk of ending the long season of the socialist Martine Aubry as first citizen) and Perpignan (advantage of the far right of the Rassemblement National).