Story By: Ernest Bio Bogore, Sub-Editor: Joseph Golder, Agency:  Newsflash

The Mayor of Montpellier has ordered 320,000 pens so that every voter in the municipality can register to vote without the risk of contracting the coronavirus.

Philippe Saurel, the Mayor of the French city in the Herault department, said he had taken the bizarre measure to encourage citizens to go to the polls as reports say 28 percent of French voters plan on avoiding polling stations to avoid COVID-19.

He said: “We are facing a complex, multifaceted epidemic. This is why we are obviously taking into account all the recommendations of the Ministry of Health, and we are taking a series of complementary protocols today to allow every citizen to come and vote with peace of mind.”

On voting day, the mayor urges citizens to “favour off-peak hours”, “avoid peak hours” and to respect “a 1-metre interval between each individual”.

Reports state 160,000 pens will be made available during the first round of voting before an identical order is placed for the second round.

After signing the registration list, everyone will then be free to keep the pen.

The press release specifies that hydro-alcoholic gel will be available at the entrance of all polling stations, in addition to soap in the sanitary facilities.

In the same wave of preventive measures taken against the coronavirus, the Mayor of Nantes, Johanna Rolland, has also ordered 20,000 pens.

She also says that if a voter needs a mask, he or she can use it.

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