Socialist incumbent Anne Hidalgo won a second term with the support of the Greens after the president’s Republic On the March party conducted a chaotic campaign in the capital. But the runoff vote in the local elections was delayed for more than three months because of the pandemic. Ministers in France and Germany's southern state of Bavaria have urged voters to head to polling stations. The Republicans, the main conservative opposition party, appeared set to retain control of thousands of local councils, with Paris likely to be one of the few major victories for the once powerful Socialists. Authorities supplied polling stations with 11 million face masks and 60,000 litres of hand sanitiser, Hot summer sun and little rain sees trees, shrubs and plants now bursting into flower, One in four teachers would leave their union if they could benefit from alternative legal support, MPs have a moral duty to challenge the suspension of our liberties, Exclusive poll: Two-thirds of Britons think coronavirus restrictions do not go far enough, loss of its absolute parliamentary majority. Across France, some 47.7 million people are registered to vote in around 35,000 municipalities. Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles. We use cookies to improve our service for you. Polling closes at 6 p.m. local time (1700 UTC). Contact But there has been widespread speculation that he will soon be ousted in a post-election reshuffle to help Mr Macron relaunch his presidency. Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo blows a kiss to the audience after her victorious second round of the municipal election, Sunday, June 28, 2020 in Paris. A recent opinion poll showed that 28% of potential voters in France were "concerned" about the risk of infection at polling stations, which are often set up at schools. Meanwhile, municipal elections in the southern German state of Bavaria have begun as planned despite being the second-most affected region in the country by the coronavirus outbreak. The French government has imposed stringent restrictions on public life to curb the spread of the epidemic. PARIS — France's Green party won big in Sunday's second round of local elections, conquering cities including Strasbourg, Lyon, Bordeaux and Besançon, according to initial estimates by polling institute Ipsos. On Saturday night, France shut down all unnecessary public spaces including cafes, restaurants, gyms and cinemas, and residents have been ordered to stay at home to curb further spread of COVID-19. At 5pm on Sunday, turnout was at 34.67 per cent - more than three points lower than at the same time during the first-round vote. Marine Le Pen's far-Right National Rally claimed a symbolically important win in the southern city of Perpignan, where her ex-partner Louis Aliot was elected mayor. In France’s two-round electoral system, the second and final vote would normally take place a week after the first. (16.02.2020), Infamous criminal Gilbert Chikli was named the ringleader of a scheme to steal money from powerful individuals by posing as French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian.