Paris – Turnout in the decisive second round of France’s presidential election was stable by midday (1000 GMT) Sunday as voters went to the polls faced with a stark choice between pro-EU liberal Emmanuel Macron and eurosceptic far-right leader Marine Le Pen.
Figures released by the Interior Ministry seemed to dispel speculation that the choice between Macron and Le Pen – unpalatable for many left-wing and conservative voters – could lead to a high abstention rate.
Some 28.2 per cent of voters cast their ballots by noon, only marginally down from 28.5 per cent at the same time in the first round on April 23, despite cool and rainy weather across much of the country.
French voters to choose between centrist Macron and hard-right Le – Election posters showing presidential candidates Marine Le Pen (left) and Emmanuel Macron, photographed in Lille, France on April 23, 2017 (Credit Image: © Depo Photos via ZUMA Wire) Photo: Depo Photos via Zuma
Macron cast his vote mid-morning in the northern seaside town of Le Touquet, preceded by his wife Brigitte.
Le Pen voted at about the same time in a primary school in her northern stronghold of Henin-Beaumont, a depressed former mining town.
She was accompanied by Mayor Steeve Brioise, a key ally who is interim leader of the National Front after Le Pen stepped aside for the duration of the elections.
Outgoing Socialist President Francois Hollande, under whom Macron served for two years as economy minister, also voted in his south-central constituency of Correze.
The final pre-election opinion polls gave Macron a clear lead of 23-26 points over Le Pen.
The former economy minister, 39, got a boost in the last days of the campaign from his assured performance in an insult-laden televised debate on Wednesday, with Le Pen appearing shaky on her facts.
It was unclear whether Friday’s “massive and coordinated” hacking attack on Macron’s campaign, in which emails and documents were leaked online, would affect the vote’s outcome.
Macron’s team said the documents had been obtained several weeks ago when the emails of officials of his En Marche! (Forward) party were hacked, and that they had been leaked in an attempt to damage his campaign.
They had been mixed up with fake documents in order “to sow doubt and disinformation,” the campaign said, adding that it was an attempt “to destabilize the French presidential election,” similar to the hacking that occurred on Democratic Party organizations in the US last year.
Macron, a strong pro-European, has called for liberalizing economic reforms accompanied by investment in training, and hopes to build a new centrist political majority.
Le Pen, 48, has promised to replace the euro with parallel national and European currencies, restructure the EU as an alliance of sovereign nations or pull out altogether, protect workers’ rights and halt immigration.
Polling stations were due to close at 8 pm in major cities and 7 pm elsewhere. Voters in some French overseas territories in the Americas and the Pacific already cast their ballots on Saturday.
Soon after the last stations close, local media are expected to publish projections of the final result based on partial voting figures released by the Interior Ministry.
The winning candidate will formally take over from Hollande on or before May 14.
Some 45.7 million people are registered to vote in France, with another 1.3 million French citizens living abroad eligible to vote in French embassies, according to the Interior Ministry.
–dpa
