On Sunday, the French citizens will vote for the President. It is called the "Elections Présidentielles". There are many candidates for the first round ("Premier Tour"). And for the second round ("Second Tour"), only the two main ones will compete. Many women are in the elections this year, representing different views.
Voters need to be registered in a "bureau de vote", generally in the city or town where they live. The day of the elections, usually a Sunday, they go to their "bureau de vote". It may be the City Hall ("Mairie") or a school.
There, each voter takes an empty envelop, and little papers with the name of the candidates. Each paper contains only 1 name. Then, the voter goes into what looks like a dressing room "l'isoloir" where in complete confidentiality, he/she puts one paper with the name of the chosen candidate in the envelop. Then, out of the "isoloir", the voter goes to the secured vote box. He/she gives his/her "carte d'électeur" to a board member who reads his/her name out loud. Two persons, each with a copy of the voters list in the form of a book, look for his/her name, then presents one book to sign to the voter. The voter then places the envelop in the opening of the box, and when the envelop falls, the board president -usually the mayor ("Maire") says "a voté !" (meaning that the voter voted).
When the election time ends, the "bureau de vote" is declared closed. The population gathers in the room, as the book keepers counts the number of voters. Then, the mayor or a broad member unlocks the vote box and counts the number of papers. The number needs to correspond to the number of voters from the book. Then, the mayor starts to read the papers. Again, two persons are recording the number of vote for each candidate. At the end, the papers are recounted and the numbers for each candidate need to match the number recorder by each book keepers. The results are announced and then communicated to the "préfecture" for compilation with the other cities.
Mairie d'Ayguesvives (Ayguesvives City Hall) now in one of the two town castles. Behind the building is a big park. Non religious weddings also happen here.
