Polling stations open for French presidential election

Polling stations in most French communes will be open until 20:00 Moscow time (00:00 Hanoi time), while in major cities, including Paris, Lyon, Marseille, Nice, Bordeaux, Toulouse and other municipalities, polling stations will operate until 21:00 Moscow time (01:00 Hanoi time).

The President of France is elected for a five-year term by direct universal suffrage. About 49 million voters are eligible to vote. The election takes place in two rounds, the first round on April 10, the second on April 24. Traditionally, the election is not limited to one round, in the second round, the two candidates who passed the first round compete against each other.

The French presidential election took place on April 10.

In the first round of elections, 12 politicians are competing for the highest State position, including incumbent French President Emmanuel Macron, leader of the far-right Democratic Party "National Unity" Marine Le Pen, candidate from the center-right "Republican" party Valérie Pécresse and far-right candidate Eric Zemmour, founder of the "Reconquest" party, leader of the left-wing "France Unbowed" party Jean-Luc Melenchon, candidate from the Communist Party Fabien Roussel, Mayor of Paris Anne Hidalgo, candidate from the "Socialist" party, a member of the "European-Ecological-Green" party Yannick Jadot and others.

According to the poll results announced before the first round, the advantage is leaning towards candidate Macron with a narrow gap over Le Pen.

According to the Elabe poll as of April 8, Macron could reach 26% in the first round and Le Pen 25%. The gap between Macron and Le Pen in the second round is also narrowing: the incumbent French President could reach 51%, while the leader of "National Unity" - 49%.