Marseille (AFP)

In this polling station at the foot of a city of Marseille, a crowd forms behind the president, who holds a certificate of proxy without stamp. The assessors say they are "hyper vigilant" after a campaign undermined by suspicions of fraud.

Faced with this dubious proxy, the president of the office calls the election service of the town hall of the 12th arrondissement: "It's a photocopy, and there is no police stamp, so it makes you tick here ... and I have the whole brigade, not financial but almost, around me! ".

At the other end of the line, the official assures us that "it's all good" and that the vote can take place. Emotion of the "brigade", composed of two assessors of opposition to the outgoing mayor, who heard the conversation put on the loudspeaker: "Ah no, it is not the town hall which decides! There is a circular all about even!"

"We remain hyper vigilant, while being courteous, and overall it is much quieter than in the first round," said Marc Burlat, assessor for the left-wing coalition of Printemps Marseille (PM).

On March 15, in this office at the foot of HLM des Caillols, the police had to intervene after the assault on the PM's candidate and "photocopied proxy problems", according to a bailiff's report which AFP was able to consult.

The second round promises to be very tight in Marseille, where Jean-Claude Gaudin (LR) gives way after 25 years at the helm. On the evening of the first round, Michèle Rubirola, head of the Printemps Marseille, created a surprise by arriving at the top of the whole city, where the vote takes place by sectors, in front of the candidate LR Martine Vassal.

But the gap between the two towers was upset by the opening of an investigation into suspected proxy fraud in the camp of the Republicans, in particular in the sector of the 11th and 12th arrondissements.

- Attempt to steal an urn -

In the village district of Saint-Barnabé (12th), these revelations greatly disturbed Marine, 35, who is patient under a blazing sun: "To the point that I wondered if I was going to vote this time". She says she will table "a sanction vote" because "liars and thieves are enough".

In the poor Felix-Pyat district (3rd arrondissement), the first round was marked by the attempt to steal an urn by men with artificial weapons. So Sunday, the polling station is monitored closely, including by municipal police, permanently nearby. "We are reassured to see the municipal police not far", testifies an assessor.

At the bottom of the white buildings of the Bellevue city, voters wait along a fresco representing children and adults with black or white skin, like the diversity of this district where the poverty rate exceeds 50%.

"I came to do my duty as a French citizen, because I hope that the neighborhood changes. We feel neglected: there is no green space, to go and walk the children in a park you have to go very far, the swimming pool has been closed, the schools are overcrowded ", explains to AFP Zineb Aouichat, 39 years old and mother of a little girl.

In the "tense" context of this second round, the control committee spent 45 minutes in the two offices of Bellevue school. "There is no problem to report; all the parties have ensured a strong presence" at the level of the assessors, thus reinforcing the control, underlines the vice-president of the judicial court, Fabrice Castoldi, planning despite everything a second visit to the afternoon.

Abstention remains strong, with only around 5% attendance at midday, according to the president of one of the offices.

"Serious, why vote? They sell us all of the dream and after there is nothing," said a young man in his twenties who has just finished a game of football. "They don't care about our neighborhood ... If we want to get out of it, the young people in Marseille, we just have to go to school, work and count on ourselves, that's all", loose- he prefers to keep his name quiet.

© 2020 AFP