French municipal polls turnout down as coronavirus fears weight on ballot

Polling turnout for the first round of municipal election in France was 38.77 percent at 5 p.m. local time (1600 GMT), sharply down from 54.54 percent at the same time six years ago, the French Interior Ministry said on Sunday.

By noon time (1100 GMT) in Paris, turnout stood at 18.38 percent, lower than 23.17 percent recorded in the first round vote in 2014, the ministry's figures showed.

"The figures speak for themselves. There are 16 points less. The midday trend has only increased," Bernard Sananes, president of Elabe pollster, told BFMTV news television.

The low turnout was in part due to the concerns over the risk of COVID-19 infection despite the government's strict sanitary conditions, in addition to the "undoubtedly majority" of voters who called for the postponement of the election, he said.

On Saturday evening, French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe ordered the shutdown of shops, restaurants and entertainment facilities and urged people, especially those over 70, to stay at home after the number of the COVID-19 infected doubled in 72 hours.

However, he insisted on holding mayoral election, which he said would proceed under strict health instruction.

"I'm responsible for the security and the health of our citizens but also for the democratic life of our country," President Emmanuel Macron said early Sunday after voting in Le Touquet in northern France.

"I think it is important to vote in these moments by taking this discipline, by respecting these rules because I think it is important to continue to remain worthy, free citizens," he added.

However, the government's refusal to call off the vote despite a relentless growth in infections has sparked the #JeNiraiPasVoter "I will not go to vote", denouncing authorities double stance strategy in containing the epidemic.

"For the first time and in a deliberate way, in 37 years I will not go to vote...Why invite us to respect distancing and maintain a ballot which could be hold in two or three months," wrote French citizen Laurent Audegun.

Remi Salomon, president of the medical commission at AP-HP, a university hospital trust operating in Paris and its surroundings, wrote in a Twitter message, "We must now apply maximum containment. Do not vote, avoid contact within 2 meters and wash often your hands."

As of Saturday, some 4,500 COVID-19 cases had been confirmed in France, with infections doubled in 72 hours, including 91 deaths and 300 critical cases, half of them under the age of 60, according to health authorities.

Some 47.7 million French voters are registered as eligible to cast their vote at ballot stations across the country, which closed at 8 p.m. (1900 GMT), when results of the first round would be released.

According to Elabe pollster, abstention rate would be at 56 percent compared to 36.45 percent in 2014.