The polls have opened in mainland France for the second round of the presidential election in which voters will choose to give Emmanuel Macron another five years in office or elect Marine Le Pen.
Macron is favourite to win but any second term will be determined by whether he finishes with a convincing victory. Both he and Le Pen need to have convinced the almost 50% of voters who did not choose either of them in the first round ballot two weeks ago.
The level of abstention and the number of people protest voting by casting a blank ballot, as many supporters of “third man” the radical left’s Jean-Luc Mélenchon have promised, could affect the result.
The former prime minister Édouard Philippe, the mayor of Le Havre, was one of the first to vote at his local polling station. Macron voted in Le Touquet, a seaside town in northern France, where he and his wife Brigitte have a home. The president shook hands, kissed children – and quite a few female supporters – signed autographs and posed for photographs for more than 20 minutes before entering the polling station.
Le Pen voted at Hénin-Beaumont, at the heart of her stronghold in northern France shortly after 11am. She was greeted outside the polling station by a crowd of supporters chanting “Marine” and jostling to take selfies with her.
Anne Hidalgo, the mayor of Paris and the Socialist party presidential candidate who trailed in the first round, voted in Paris 45 minutes after the polling stations opened. Valérie Pécresse, candidate for the conservative Les Républicains, voted shortly afterwards. They were followed by Mélenchon, who voted in Marseille and the prime minister, Jean Castex, voted at his home town of Prades in the Pyrénées-Orientales in southern France. Eric Zemmour voted in Paris at around midday.
Turnout at 5pm was 63.23%, according to the interior ministry. This is lower than the 65.3% turnout in 2017 and 71.96% in 2012. At midday, the highest turnout on Sunday was reported to be in the Gers in south-west France and the Jura in the east. The lowest was in Seine-Saint-Denis north of Paris and the capital itself.
The polling stations close at 7pm in most of mainland France and 8pm in major towns and cities. An estimation of the result based on the count from a number of specific polling stations chosen as representative of France will be announced at 8pm. While it is only an estimation it is usually a reliable indication of who has won unless it is too close to call and within a margin of error.
Because of the time difference, France’s overseas territories began voting on Saturday.
Campaigning officially ended at midnight on Friday when all opinion polls ceased and since when the candidates have been obliged to keep a low profile.
Whatever the result, Macron will hold his election night event near the foot of the Eiffel Tower at the Champ-de-Mars; Le Pen’s event will be held at a former hunting lodge, now an upmarket Belle Epoque-style events venue, in the Bois de Boulogne.
Macron’s manifesto includes a cap on fuel prices, index-linked pensions and a progressive rise in the retirement age to 65 years. He also campaigned for a stronger Europe.
Le Pen has promised to lower the retirement age from 62 to 60 for those who began work before the age of 20, dropping VAT on fuel from 20% to 5.5%, and a new law to allow French nationals priority for housing, jobs and benefits as well as the deportation of illegal immigrants.
Macron and Le Pen won places in the second round two weeks ago when he polled just under 9.8m votes – 27.85% of those cast – and she obtained 8.13m votes – 23.15% of those cast. Mélenchon came a close third with 7.7m votes, 420,000 short of Le Pen. The candidates for the mainstream right and left both trailed with Pécresse in fifth place and Hidalgo in 10th place; both polled under 5%, meaning they will not have their campaign expenses reimbursed.
