The country, which has a population of approximately 67 million, has 48.7 million voters. Voting started at 08:00 local time and will end at 19:00. In big cities, votes can be cast until 20:00.
With the decision of the government, voters who test positive for Kovid-19 will have the right to vote by coming to the election centers, provided that they use a mask.
OFFICIAL RESULTS WILL BE ANNOUNCED ON APRIL 13
Research companies will be able to start giving the estimated results of the election as of the closing of the polls. The official results will be announced by the Constitutional Court on 13 April.
Among the candidates, President Macron, the center-right Republican Party’s (LR) candidate Valerie Pecresse, the far-right Marine Le Pen, the far-right Eric Zemmour, known for his “racist” views, and the leader of the ultra-leftist Unsubmissive France Movement, Jean-Luc Melenchon, stand out.
LE PEN TAKES AHEAD WITH MACRON
Macron and Le Pen seem to be ahead in the polls for the first round of the election.
If no candidate gets 50 percent of the vote in the first round of the election, the two candidates with the most votes will compete in the second round to be held on April 24. The candidate who wins the election will take over the presidency until 13 May.
(AA)