France holds municipal elections postponed by virus crisis

PARIS (AP) — France is holding the second round of municipal elections in 5,000 towns and cities Sunday that got postponed due to the country's coronavirus outbreak.

The voting to fill local offices in Paris and thousands of other places was suspended after the first round of the nationwide municipal elections on March 15, which produced decisive outcomes in some 30,000 other mostly small communes.

Voters are set to choose mayors and municipal councilors on Sunday at polling stations operating under strict hygiene rules. Face masks, soap or hand sanitizers and maintaining 1 meter (about 3 feet) between each person in lines are mandatory. Voters have been told to bring their own pens to sign the register.

The spread of the coronavirus has slowed significantly in France in recent weeks and almost all restrictions on social and business activity were gradually lifted over the last month. France has reported nearly 200,000 confirmed cases and 29,781 deaths in the pandemic.

But the virus is still expected to hurt Sunday’s turnout, as it did in March. Only 44.7% of voters, a record low, cast ballots in the first round of the municipal elections.

The elections, though ostensibly focused on local concerns, are also seen as a key political indicator ahead of the 2022 French presidential election.

The main battleground is Paris, where the mayor is an influential figure in French politics and will oversee the 2024 Olympics. Paris Mayor Annie Hidalgo, a Socialist Party member, finished in March with a strong lead ahead of conservative candidate Rachida Dati.

French President Emmanuel Macron’s 3-year-old centrist party is fielding municipal candidates for the first time and still lacks local roots across France. The party, Republic on the Move, doesn’t have candidates in...