Third Death in a Voting Office During Second Round of Municipal Elections in France

This is the third death recorded during this second round of municipal elections this Sunday. In Saint-Étienne, a team member of the RN list led by candidate Corentin Jousserand suffered a heart attack while serving as an assessor in a polling station at noon, said Jean-Pierre Berger, mayor of Saint-Étienne, to Le Parisien, confirming information from Le Progrès.

Despite the intervention of the emergency services for over an hour, the man, who was “just over 80 years old,” could not be revived, explained the mayor, who visited the site. The polling station had to be closed for three hours before welcoming voters again, detailed the mayor. The lead candidate Corentin Jousserand (RN) confirmed to Le Parisien the death of his team member.

“We are deeply shocked by this news. We offer our condolences to his family and loved ones, and we wish a lot of courage to the assessors and polling station presidents where our team member passed away,” reacted the candidate, who interrupted his tour of polling stations.

An 81-Year-Old Man Dies

Two other people have died in polling stations this morning, in Carcassonne (Aude) and Annecy (Haute-Savoie). The Carcassonne City Hall confirmed to Le Parisien the death of a female voter who was coming to vote around 11:30 in the UNESCO World Heritage City.

The 82-year-old woman had a fainting spell just before entering her polling station, the polling station president immediately called the rescue services who, according to the city hall, arrived very quickly.

Firefighters tried to resuscitate her on the spot and then transferred her to the ambulance where she was declared deceased. The polling station was not closed but, “obviously no one dared to enter during the entire rescue operation.”

Shortly before, around 9:30, in a polling station in Annecy located at the Glaisins gymnasium, an 81-year-old man succumbed to a cardiac arrest in his polling station. He had just deposited his ballot in the urn when he suddenly felt unwell.

He was quickly taken care of on-site by the firefighters. Despite their intervention, he could not be saved and was pronounced deceased on the scene. Polling stations 34, 35, and 36 were closed for over an hour and reopened around 10:40 in Annecy.