With 30,000 police officers on duty, France is back in the polls with seven days to go for the second round of its early general elections. Track the final results in cities and towns on an interactive map.
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France’s 49.5 million voters turned out to vote in the second round of early general elections on Sunday, which could result in a victory for the far-right National Rally (RN) party or months of political deadlock.
France’s left-wing and centre-right parties are scrambling to form a united front following far-right candidate Marine Le Pen’s decisive victory in the first round of a snap election.
As the time for the second round of elections draws near, the interactive map gives insight into the changing political landscape, while the latest results can be seen on the map.
Tensions are rising in the country as France prepares to host the Olympics, the national football team reaches the semi-finals of the Euro 2024 championships and one of the most important elections in recent memory is taking place in the country.
The election campaign has been marred by racism, anti-Semitism and Russian cyber attacks, with around 50 candidates reported to have been physically assaulted – highly unusual in France.
Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said on Thursday that the government would deploy 30,000 police officers to prevent “disorderly” movements by “far-left or far-right” on voting day.
You can follow key election developments on our live commentary page below.
Voting, which finished on Saturday in French overseas territories, began on the mainland at 9am Turkish time (6am GMT) on Sunday morning.
Participation in the second round of the early general election was strong. Turnout was 59.7% at 5pm local time on Sunday, according to the French Ministry of the Interior.
There were a lot of participants at lunchtime too.
The ministry announced Sunday that the “participation rate by noon” was 26.6 percent, the highest “lunch attendance” level recorded since 1981.
Euronews will bring you all the last moments and breaking news on the elections.
The first national forecasts, based on exit polls, are due to be published at 20:00 CET (17:00 GMT).
For those who missed the agenda in France, here’s a quick recap.
Jordan Bardella (28), leader of Marine Le Pen’s National Rally (RN) party, called on President Emmanuel Macron to hold early elections just before the European Parliament (EP) elections.
Macron announced the decision to call early elections in a live broadcast from the Elysee Palace, an hour after the RN’s record victory in the AP polls. When voting closed, the party had 32 percent of the vote, double Macron’s party, L’Onaissance.
“We have heard the message and we will not leave it unanswered,” Macron told voters, adding that he “does not want to hand over the keys of power to the far right” in the 2027 presidential election. Macron stressed that he would not step down as president until the end of his term.
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In the first round of elections held on June 30, no party was able to reach the 289 seats required to represent a majority in parliament. The far-right RN came in first in the first round, winning 33.1% of the vote, three points short of expectations. The far-right party, which received 17.3% of the vote in the 2022 general election, has almost doubled its vote share in two years.
Assessing the results of the first round, Bardella recalled the “overwhelming majority in all constituencies” and said the results received on the evening of June 30 were evidence of a “clear decision” and a “clear desire for change”.
Bardella called on voters to “rally together in a final effort” for “one of the most decisive votes in the history of the Fifth Republic.”
Macron’s Ensemble for the Republic coalition won just under 21% of the vote, the same percentage as it won in the 2022 election.
Left-wing parties performed relatively well in the first round: After the election, the New Popular Front (NPF), made up of the Socialist Party (PS), the French Communist Party (PCF), the Environmental Green Party (EELV) and Jean-Luc Mélenchon’s Parti Invincible France (LFI), won 28% of the vote, up from the previous round and a slight improvement on the 25.7% achieved by the NUPES alliance in 2022.
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Jean-Luc Mélenchon told his supporters on the night of June 30 that his party would withdraw its own candidate from the three-candidate second round in order to prevent the far-right Rally National from winning a parliamentary majority. Mélenchon said he had given clear instructions to left-wing voters not to give Le Pen’s party “one more vote, one more seat,” and said, “We will not allow the Rally National to win anywhere.”
The second round of voting will be contested between multiple parties and alliances, just like the first round, but the main focus is expected to be on the far-right RN and its allies, the NPF, a coalition of the four main left-wing parties, Macron’s Ensemble alliance and the conservative Republicans.
Opinion polls suggest the RN is set to win the most seats in the new Knesset, a first in its history.
If the RN wins a majority in the National Assembly, with 289 seats, Macron is expected to appoint the 28-year-old Bardella as France’s new prime minister, who will then form a new government and “live in” with Macron to govern the country.
Meanwhile, Macron could still appoint Bardella as prime minister again if the RN fails to win a majority in parliament, but the formation of a new RN government without a majority is considered unlikely as it could collapse during a confidence vote.
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As a third option, Macron is expected to form a coalition with moderates and appoint a prime minister from the centre-left.
They had previously lived together
From 1986 to 1988, Socialist President François Mitterrand ruled the country alongside the then right-wing prime minister, neo-Gaullist Jacques Chirac, who was not pro-Euro.
Nevertheless, despite the two leaders’ conflicting views on international and European policy, France succeeded in working with the then European Community countries to create a single market within the Community.
Mitterrand eventually won the 1988 election over his rival Chirac. But then he had to preside over another neo-Gaullist, Édouard Balladur, from 1993 to 1995. Again, the president was a socialist and the prime minister a conservative. Still, the two sides rarely clashed on political issues, especially around the EU. Mitterrand was in poor health, and this second cohabitation period coincided with the final days of his political career.
From 1997 to 2002, when it was President Chirac’s turn to live with the country, the conservative camp lost in the first round of parliamentary elections after a tactical dissolution of the Lower House.
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Chirac remained president, while Socialist Lionel Jospin became prime minister after his Plural Left coalition, which included Communists and the Greens, secured a majority in parliament.
The two men were often at odds, and by attending EU Council summits together they created a kind of “à la française” exception, where a president and prime minister of the same country sit at the same round table.
There were constitutional debates about how powers should be shared between heads of state and government, especially in matters of foreign policy and EU policy, all of which was constantly used in the election campaign between Chirac and Jospin.
But their life together from 1997 to 2002 contributed to the transition to a single currency within the EU, the conclusion of two important EU agreements – Amsterdam in 1997 and Nice in 2000 – and the launch of the largest enlargement negotiations in the EU’s history.
What do the polls say?
Opinion polls conducted between the two rounds of voting have suggested the RN is likely to win the most seats in the 577-seat parliament, but they also show that the far-right party will fall short of the 289 seats needed for a parliamentary majority and will not be able to govern on its own.
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If Macron wins a majority, he will have to share power in an unusual arrangement known in France as “cohabitation.”
This situation arises when the parties of the Prime Minister and the President are in conflict with each other.
Another possibility is that no party will win a majority and Parliament will remain suspended.
This could lead to Macron either entering coalition talks with the centre-left or forming a government of independent scientists with no political ties.
When will the results be shared?
Voting will begin at 8am local time in mainland France and close at 6pm in towns and smaller cities and 8pm in larger cities.
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The first exit polls are due to be shared at 8pm, the closing time. Initial nationwide estimates based on partial results are expected to be published.
The vote counting is expected to finish quickly and be completed by Sunday evening or Monday morning at the latest.
