Little hands are busy for candidates

At first everything seems calm. Only many cars parked in the courtyard of the logistics company Duhamel suggest activity that reigns on the site. Past the door which gives access to the hangar, it's the excitement. In a continuous buzz, nearly a hundred people are working around tables arranged in rows.

Here, in the municipality of Val-de-Reuil (Eure), has instead of 6:00 to 9:00 p.m. the enveloping of presidential propaganda intended to 712,710 voters in the Val d'Oise. A long process, exclusively manual, which does not leave a minute's break for small hands hired for the occasion. Under the watchful eye of two officers of the prefecture of the Val d'Oise dispatched to control the operation, hundreds of thousands of professions of faith and ballots are mixed, sorted and placed in envelopes.

Between tables, line managers around, take a responsible look at each team and motivate the troops when a loss of power is felt. "We still have to keep up, says David Drouet, a leader line used by the router. Stand and repeat the same mechanical gestures for seven hours, it's exhausting. At the end of the day, my ears buzzing, "he slips a smile before returning to the table, obviously in a hurry. On the other side of the shed, not far from the nest that active employees take delivery of the Post Office and store brown envelopes on pallets.

"Everything should be finished tomorrow (note: before yesterday) and dispatched to the sorting center of Saint-Ouen-Alms, says Yves Colin, management representative of the Post of Val d'Oise. We will then have until the eve of the election to distribute all of the propaganda to voters. "Yves Colin is familiar with the site. For several years he was in charge of reception and delivery of electoral materials to the Val d'Oise. "Every election, we find the same people. It's nice and easier to coordinate. "This year, the private router has recruited more than 150 temporary staff in two teams in the morning and evening. There is no time to lose.

"We have a problem, suddenly exclaimed a head line came to join the two agents of the prefecture. A team made a mistake in the order of documents. "The verdict: dozens of letters to be redone. Minutes later, the incident is forgotten. "It was not much, we quickly managed to right the wrongs, welcomes an agent of the prefecture. But be careful that the order of documents determined by the national lottery is respected. "It's Saturday afternoon at the latest, the voters of Val d'Oise discover in their mailboxes professions of faith of the candidates in the presidential election.