Setting up the offices
For one Sunday, schools, colleges, high schools, and town halls will transform into polling stations to allow voters to fulfill their civic duty just steps from their homes. The setup of these offices started early in the morning, and the presidents and assessors, after the customary greetings, busied themselves with preparing the necessary materials for a perfect voting day. “Nothing should be overlooked, everything must be perfect so that the day goes smoothly. We have two elections in this same office and the mood is currently very positive.” Olivier, experienced in running a polling office, went to join the “newcomers” for whom this is a first, to share his valuable advice. The countdown has begun, and the ballot boxes are ready to receive everyone’s opinion with, for each ballot cast, the declaration “A votรฉ” signifying that you have done your civic duty.
Beware the danger of abstention!
“Great, it’s raining, we’ll have fewer abstentions!” This morning remark by one of the candidates in the municipal election underscores everyone’s concern about the abstention rate among Nice’s residents. In 2001, participation was quite low with only 46.99% of the 222,121 registered voters casting their votes. Certainly, the various campaigns of the candidates and the media’s interest in the Nice municipal election may improve participation, raising the possibility of surpassing 50%. So if you have stayed at home, whether because of the rain, the France-Italy Six Nations match, or any other reason, take the time to go vote!
To the polls, candidates
If there is one vote they are sure to have, it is their own. The candidates in the Nice municipal election will thus perform their duty as voters in their respective polling stations before embarking on the long journey of visiting all the polling stations in each neighborhood of the city, accompanied by a team whose real challenge will be to avoid unexpected encounters with those from one of the other seven contenders.
