France may be in for a political earthquake as a result of the election. According to AFP, this could pave the way for the far right to take power in a week.
Polling stations opened at 08:00. Voting was possible until 6:00 p.m., two hours longer in large cities. French people living abroad already voted electronically during the week.
As it turns out over the course of Sunday, voter turnout in French parliamentary elections is higher than last time; at noon, 25.9 percent voted against 18.43 percent in 2022, writes AFP. In the end, an estimated 69.7% of voters participated, the highest turnout in a decade.
Voting took place in 577 single-mandate constituencies. A candidate receives a five-year mandate already in the first round if he receives more than 50 percent of the vote, which also represents more than a quarter of registered voters.
The right won more than a third
The left-wing New People’s Front bloc, in which the socialists, communists, greens, the Unsubdued France party (LFI) and other smaller groups united before the elections, is estimated to win around 28 to 29 percent of the vote in the first round. President Macron’s centrist camp came in third with around 20 to 22 percent.
RN founder and Macron’s longtime political companion Le Pen called on voters to give her party an absolute majority in parliament in the second round. She also said that Macron’s camp was “almost wiped out” in the first round of the election.
“The high turnout in the first round (…) testifies to the importance of this vote for all our compatriots and to the desire to clarify the political situation,” Macron said in a written statement, according to AFP. At the same time, he called for broad support for clearly “Republican and Democratic” candidates in the second round of elections.
