国际英语资讯:France holds delayed municipal elections, Macrons party faces challenge_时事

国际英语资讯:France holds delayed municipal elections, Macrons party faces challenge

PARIS, June 28 -- As COVID-19 epidemic indicators keep improving in France, some 16.5 million voters are called to cast ballots on Sunday in the second round of municipal elections under strict health protocol.

Of France's 35,000 cities, towns and villages, about 30,000 had already elected their mayors in the first round held on March 15.

国际英语资讯:France holds delayed municipal elections, Macrons party faces challenge1

The second round of mayoral elections was originally planned for March 22, but the worsening coronavirus outbreaks and the anti-virus lockdown had forced the French government to postpone it.

TURNOUT IS MAIN UNKNOWN

Sunday's voting is taking place in 4,827 municipalities, as well as in the districts of Paris, Lyon and Marseille, where the councils were not elected in the first round.

For the voting, the French Interior Ministry recommended voters should keep a safe distance from each other, wear a mask at polling stations and bring their own pens to sign off their vote.

At a polling station in Paris' northern suburb of Parmain, staff workers are wearing face masks. Stickers on the ground mark out where people should stand while waiting for their turn, and hand gel is provided upon entry.

"I am going to carry out my civic duty. This time, the context is different owing to the epidemic but it does not prevent me from doing what must be done. Certainly, we should adapt to this situation but we keep on living," Mathilde, a 67-year-old pensioner, told Xinhua.