The second round of the election was scheduled for late March, but had to be postponed due to the Covid 19 pandemic. The turnout was 15.29 percent on Sunday afternoon, which was more than four points less than in the 2014 vote, as the Interior Ministry said.
In the first round in mid-March, well over half of the voters did not vote. The polling stations in the 4,820 municipalities opened on Sunday at 8 a.m. Voters were subject to strict distance rules and a mask requirement.
Prime Minister Edouard Philippe said via Twitter that he had cast his vote. President Emmanuel Macron planned to cast his vote in Le Touquet, in northern France, where he and his wife Brigitte live.
The elections are considered an important mood test for the President’s party. A damper is expected for Macron’s La Republique en Marche (LREM) party. In the capital, Paris, the presidential candidate Agnes Buzyn was clearly behind the socialist mayor Anne Hidalgo in polls. Macron’s original candidate had fallen over a sex video affair there. The result is eagerly awaited from the port city of Le Havre, where Prime Minister Philippe is running for mayor.
Greens significantly strengthened
The French Greens emerged from the first round of elections in mid-March significantly stronger. The right-wing populists of Marine Le Pen hope for gains in the south of the country, among others. Le Pen’s Rassemblement National party is Macron’s main opponent in the 2022 presidential election.
A good 16 million voters are called – this corresponds to about a third of those entitled to vote. It is the first political mood test after the weeks-long exit restrictions during the pandemic, which hit France hard with around 30,000 deaths. After the elections, Macron wants to decide on his political course after the corona crisis. Government reorganization is also possible.
