Emanuel Macron and Marin Le Pen are the leaders among the 12 candidates who will win in the second round in two weeks, but polls show that the race will be close. In recent weeks, Jean-Luc Mélenchon of the radical left has closed the gap with the two leaders and pollsters say the level of abstention is likely to play a significant role in the final result. Some analysts have suggested that up to a third of voters could avoid the ballot box, the highest number in 20 years. Former Conservative President Nicolas Sarkozy was among the first to take part in the vote, followed by Socialist candidate An Indalgo. About 48.7 million people have the right to vote in the presidential race. The winner will lead the European Union’s second-largest economy and the EU’s only nuclear power plant. In French Polynesia, the number of voters who attended was estimated at 12.34%, compared to 22.24% in the same period in the last presidential election of 2017. The main issues in this election were the cost of living with voters angry over rising fuel and food prices, mainly caused by the war in Ukraine. Concerns about health, employment and the environment have also appeared in the candidates’ manifestos. Immigration has been pushed to the forefront by the far-right Le Pen and its political rival, former journalist and television expert Eric Zemmour, who has seen his support crumble in recent weeks. In the run-up to Sunday’s vote, there was a period of “electoral silence” during which candidates could not campaign and polls could not be published to avoid voter influence in the hours leading up to the vote. The first indication of which two candidates will be in the second round will be announced at 20:00 French time – when the polls close in the big cities – based on the estimates from the exit polls. Until then no results are expected and according to the electoral rules of France no estimates are allowed before that, except the percentage of abstention. The campaign starts again at 20:00 on Sunday and will then continue for another two weeks until the second round of voting. “We have a strange campaign that does not look like any other presidential election,” Frédéric Dabi, director of Ifop polls, told Le Monde. The war in Ukraine, the “lack of interest” and the absence of the usual national debate that sees candidates claiming that their plans had left many voters indifferent, he said. Macron, who remained the favorite to win the first round, entered the race late and his campaign was derailed by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. He held only one national meeting earlier this month. Lepen closed the week just a few percentage points behind him. Political analysts have warned that the planned Macron-Le Pen duel for the second round could be overturned if the abstention is high. Poll company Harris Interactive suggested that 70% of French voters consider the presidential campaign “disappointing”. About 20% of voters who said they had decided who they would vote for admitted they could change their minds, increasing uncertainty. Masks are no longer required in France, except on public transport, but voters have been advised to wear a face mask if their polling station is too busy.
