At 08:00 local time, polling stations in the 96 metropolitan areas opened for elections, which began yesterday in overseas territories and schools abroad.
Voters can exercise their right until 7:00 p.m. and the first results will be released after 8:00 p.m. with the pollsters’ estimates, which traditionally precede the official data from the Interior Ministry.
All polls and political analysts predicted a victory for Macron in the repeat of the second round of the 2017 presidential election, albeit by a narrower margin than when he garnered 66 percent of the vote.
The polls published before the elections began at midnight on Friday showed the head of state with up to 57 percent of the votes.
For political analyst and CEO of Ipsos France Brice Teinturier, while Macron’s victory seems the most likely scenario, it is not the only one.
There are elements that must be taken into account for a well-concluded election and even a victory for Le Pen, in particular the tendency of abstentions in the first ballot (about 13 million) and the Mélenchon vote exercised by the more than seven million supporters of Jean-Luc , he warned.
According to polls, the abstention rate could be around 30 percent of the voter registration, more than 14 million French, and close to the record for absenteeism from the elections, which dates back to 1969 with 31.1.
The election campaign was characterized by mutual attacks, for example on the loss of purchasing power, France’s role in the European Union, foreign policy and the Ukraine conflict, emigration and security.
Pushing to prevent the extreme right from taking power, Macron pledged to rule for another five years with a will to expand and reunify to strengthen his European vision and efforts towards energy and agricultural independence.
Le Pen, for her part, felt that new management of her rival would bring havoc, and offered voters to be President of Everyday Life, the Value of Work, Purchasing Power, Schools, Health for All, Republican Assimilation and the social advancement.
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