The regional and departmental elections will be held on June 13 and 20. The National Assembly on Tuesday evening adopted the bill to postpone these polls which were initially to be held in March.
“The decree convening the voters will be taken as soon as the law is promulgated” and “this decree will propose to organize the polls on June 13 and 20,” said Minister Delegate in charge of Citizenship Marlène Schiappa.
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The postponement of these elections had been recommended in a report commissioned from Jean-Louis Debré and delivered on November 13 by the former president of the Constitutional Council, who saw it as “a reasonable option” for health, legal and political reasons. The postponement has already been validated by the Senate. But since the variants have increased in power, and with them the concern of not being able to campaign under a state of health emergency, also extended Tuesday until June 1. On Tuesday evening, seven deputies abstained for this reason.
The government plans to submit a report to Parliament on the health risks of the campaign and the two rounds of the ballot by April 1 at the latest. A new postponement could only pass by law. “The government is doing everything” for the holding of the polls in June, insisted Marlène Schiappa, while several opposition deputies have expressed their doubts about the intentions of the executive. “We will be vigilant” because “June is the date of no return” because of the presidential race and legislative elections, declared Paul Molac (Liberties and territories), in unison with several elected officials from the right as from the left.
19 days of official campaign, two proxies instead of one
The text voted by the Assembly provides for the terms of the official campaign, which is extended to 19 days instead of 12 before the first round. If senators accept this change on Thursday, there will be no “campaign clips” on public radio and television. On June 13 and 20, each voter who travels can have two proxies, against one usually. This facility was used for the second round of municipal elections last June, postponed for several months due to the epidemic wave.
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The deputies also authorized the establishment of a free telephone number, on the initiative of the candidates, to allow the voters to learn about their programs.
Original article by : www.leparisien.fr
