Voting continues in France in the first round of the presidential elections, and the Ministry of the Interior said that the voter turnout amounted to 65% until five in the evening GMT, which is less than the percentage recorded in the last presidential elections, and opinion polls limit the competition between 4 candidates, led by the centrist candidate Emmanuel Macron and far-right candidate Marine Le Pen.

The turnout rate in Paris reached more than 52% until five o'clock in the evening, while the rate in Essonne (a Parisian suburb) reached more than 56.19%, a region witnessing a concentration of French of immigrant origins, mostly Arab, and this percentage is considered weak.

Voting began at eight in the morning and will end at eight in the evening, when the first predictions of the results begin to appear.

After closing the boxes

By late Sunday evening, the losing candidates are expected to have conceded defeat, or the first and second-placed candidates have given speeches to rally voters in the April 24 run-off.

More than 48 million French voters are entitled to vote in these elections, in which 12 candidates are competing, most notably the current President Macron and Le Pen.


Opinion polls released ahead of the election silence had suggested the likely outcome was a run-off between Macron and Le Pen, but several polls now say that falls within the margin of error.

Numerous studies tend to suggest that Le Pen and the far-left candidate, Jean-Luc Melenchon, have been witnessing progress for days, which greatly reduces the difference with Macron.

Just weeks ago, opinion polls pointed to an easy victory for the pro-EU Macron, whose position has been bolstered by his active diplomacy on Ukraine and a robust economic recovery, as well as a weak and fragmented opposition.

Macron vs. Le Pen

But Macron's popularity declined for several reasons, including his late entry into the election campaign, as he held only one large electoral rally, which even his supporters considered disappointing, as well as his focus on a plan to raise the retirement age facing popular opposition, in addition to the sharp rise in inflation.

On the other hand, Le Pen, a far-right Eurosceptic and anti-immigrant, has made a domestic tour and for months focused on the cost of living, as she tried to take advantage of a sharp decline in support for her far-right rival Eric Zemmour.


Behind Macron, Le Pen and Mélenchon, other presidential hopefuls are far from realised, notably traditional right-wing candidate Valerie Pecresse and far-right candidate Zemmour.

The discussions in the election campaigns were dominated by the repercussions of the Corona virus pandemic, as well as the war in Ukraine. Al-Jazeera correspondent in Paris, Hafez Meribah, said that the election campaign was neither hot nor traditional, in which the usual topics such as climate change, immigration and the economic situation were raised.

Several political forces warned of the possibility of these elections recording a greater percentage of abstention from voting compared to the previous elections.

It is noteworthy that the 2002 elections recorded one of the largest boycott rates with more than 28% of the voters, before the reluctance declined in 2007 in the confrontation between Nicolas Sarkozy and Segolene Royal.