Candidates in France's departemental elections have up until midnight today to persuade voters to vote them into the second round. The first round takes place this Sunday and the second round a week later. Candidates vying for a post of local councillor in over 2,000 cities say they hope to get a say in the running of local services such as education and health. For the first time, they're competing in mixed pairs, in a bid to increase female representation. Candidates who make it past Sunday's first round, will compete again the weekend after. The elections take place in a backdrop of suspicion after the terror attacks against satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo. But as RFI reports from the northeastern town of Bobigny, sport could be one way of reviving civic values.
