About France’s presidential election
The French president is elected by a direct vote. There is no electoral college, and no involvement of parliament. A candidate who wins more than 50% of the popular vote is elected. If, as seems likely, no candidate wins that majority in the first round, the top two candidates go through to a run-off election two weeks later, on April 24.
Although the French interior ministry reports the results by commune, department and region, only the overall national result counts. The breakdowns are interesting because they often show regional patterns in voting - Le Pen has in the past done well in the south and the north-east.
Polls close at 1900CEST in most districts, but at 2000CEST in Paris and other large cities. French departments in the Pacific, Atlantic and Caribbean voted on Saturday. French citizens living overseas can also vote, and 1.4m of them are on the electoral register this time.
The interior ministry said it was expecting some results from rural areas as soon as polls closed in Paris, with a majority of communes reporting by about midnight.
