Macron to face Le Pen in French election runoff

Macron and Le Pen led the field after the first round of the election, according to initial projections [File: Gonzalo Fuentes/Reuters]

French leader Emmanuel Macron and challenger Marine Le Pen qualified for what promises to be a very tightly fought presidential election runoff on April 24, pitting a pro-European economic liberal against a far-right nationalist.

With 96 percent of the votes counted for Sunday’s first round, Macron garnered 27.41 percent of the votes and Le Pen 24.03 percent.