Polling stations open for second round – L’Express

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Polling stations open for second round – LExpress

The French will vote on Sunday, July 7, for the second round of early legislative elections. A historic vote in which the extreme right seeks to obtain an absolute majority in the Assembly and to form a government after its victory in the first round (33.2% of the vote).

This unprecedented score for a legislative election opened the door to the National Rally coming to power, which would be a first in France since the Second World War, and a thunderbolt with repercussions extending far beyond the borders of France.

Key information to remember

⇒ Polling stations opened at 8am this morning

⇒ Voter turnout is still expected to be high

⇒ A total of 130 NFP and 80 Ensemble candidates withdrew between Sunday and Tuesday

8:15 a.m.

In the first round, the RN in the lead

Last Sunday, voters placed the RN and its allies from LR largely in the lead last Sunday, with 33.2% of the vote, ahead of the left-wing alliance New Popular Front (NFP, 28.0%), and the presidential bloc Ensemble (20.0%).

3809 legislative results file

© / The Express

8h

Polling stations open for second round

Polling stations opened Sunday at 8:00 a.m. in mainland France for the second round of the legislative elections. French people can vote until 6:00 p.m. or 8:00 p.m. in major cities, when the first results will be announced.

READ ALSO: Courbevoie, Crépol, Châteauroux… News items, a booster for RN votes?

7:50 a.m.

The mobilization promises to be as strong as ever

Voter turnout is still expected to be strong, with turnout expected to be at the same level as in the first round, when it reached 66.7%, a level never seen since the previous dissolution in 1997.

READ ALSO: The warning from the head of German economists: “I am honestly worried about France…”

7:45 a.m.

Many withdrawals

But the campaign between the two rounds was marked by the withdrawal of many candidates from Ensemble and the NFP, in the name of a “republican front” reinvigorated by the concrete and tangible prospect of the nomination of RN president Jordan Bardella, 28, to Matignon.

READ ALSO: Benjamin Morel: “If Macron triggered Article 16, he would be acting a bit like Putin”

A total of 130 NFP candidates and 80 Ensemble candidates withdrew between Sunday and Tuesday, reducing the number of three-way contests from 306 to 89 according to the Ipsos polling institute.

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