It is surely the smallest polling station in France! A 20m² construction shed will accommodate the voters of Cizancourt (Somme) for the first round of the legislative elections this Sunday, June 12, as well as the second round next weekend. The ballot cannot be held in the town hall because the building was devastated by a road accident in May 2021. This emergency solution divides the 36 inhabitants of the town.
Electoral System D
The white rectangle stands next to the town hall. Inside: two boards placed on trestles, the portrait of the President of the Republic and the transparent plastic ballot box. “People are going to come in, they’re going to take the ballots here, then they’re going to come to the voting booth, then they’re going to come and vote“, describes the mayor, Jean-Luc Doutart.
– Julien Penot
The installation is basic, but there was no other way. Without town hall, and with the prohibition to organize the ballot in the church, the only place likely to be able to accommodate the public, it is the option of a construction site shed which was chosen. “As it is a small village, there is not much that is practical. We don’t even have a class, there has never been a school in Cizancourt“, justifies the elected official, in front of the provisional structure.
As for the inhabitants, we have already voted in a church, so why not do it in a shed? “There aren’t that many of us and then we don’t all go at the same time, usually three or four, so we’ll go with it“, smiles Gérard at his doorstep. A little further, Monique is less convinced: “I find this abnormal. We are in France, the town hall should have been rebuilt, I find this unusual, I am stunned…” “I know there are people who find this not very regulatory, but we are caught up in time“, recalls one of the deputy mayors, Jean-Pierre Sanchez.
The situation is likely to last. The renovation of the town hall, two walls and the roof, is valued at 47 thousand euros, and is not yet on the agenda.