If “the health situation has improved significantly”, “it is difficult to anticipate an uncertain situation for the weeks to come,” said the Council.
Yes, but. If the scientific Council is not opposed to the holding of the second round of the municipal elections in June, the judge, however, required a new assessment of the sanitary conditions in the fifteen days prior to the date of the election, according to the opinion of the government, and published on Tuesday.
READ ALSO >> The municipal elections would not have contributed to the spread of the coronavirus
“This evaluation may then motivate, according to his results, a new interruption of the electoral process”, warns the scientific Council in its report dedicated to inform the final decision of the executive, expected this week.
Your support is essential. Subscribe for $ 1 support Us
The Council, to which Edouard Philippe was asked at the end of march to prepare this document, believes that if “the health situation has improved significantly compared to the beginning of the containment”, “it is difficult to anticipate an uncertain status for the coming weeks”.
While the law declaring a state of public health emergency the march 23 deadline of the postponement of the 2nd round to the end of June, the Council considers that it is “possible and necessary to secure the electoral process itself in order to reduce the risks that are associated with them”.
Important reservations
If this second round, which involves around 5000 commons, could not be held to this deadline, it would then be necessary to reprogram the entire election (first and second round) in these cities. Gold, and then the virus could continue to circulate in the fall, “from a health point of view, the holding of a single round of voting rather than two, regardless of timing, is likely to reduce the health risks, in the statistical sense of the term,” notes the scientific Council.
If these arguments seem to plead for the organization of a second tour in June, the members of the Board the sort of significant reserves. They warn against the “health risks” significant related to the election campaign, which would have to be “profoundly amended”. In their viewfinder, the “meetings ” electoral” as well as “actions of the candidates that have the effect of meetings or gatherings of physical (distribution of leaflets, door to door, public meetings, meetings of the apartment)”.
“other terms and conditions of the campaign, certainly limited but equal for all the candidates, may be considered, including through the use of digital technology”, they argue, recommending that “the wearing of the mask and visor for all individuals participating in field operations”.
READ ALSO >> The management of the déconfinement, the true second round of the municipal ?
Concerning the voting operations, the scientific Council also advises easing in the preparation of powers of attorney, asking that “the validity of proxies already established for the second round initially planned for 22 march will be extended”.
Asked on France Info, the president RL of the Senate Gérard Larcher, for his part, considered it “wise” that the government may ask a second opinion from scientists before taking on the second round. “We will see around the 2 June if the sanitary conditions allow the electoral process, which is a democratic process in which nobody should be excluded”, he stressed.
Read our complete file
municipal Elections 2020
Municipal : parliamentarians LREM ask Macron to postpone the election Municipal : four questions about the puzzle of the second round, “I bous inwardly” : the new mayors eager to get in function
The president LREM of the national Assembly Richard Ferrand, france, for its part, considered that it was not “reasonable” to consider a vote as early as late June, “even as the campaigns cannot happen since you can’t gather more than ten people”. “You can hardly make the door-to-door hidden”, he observed.
