At noon at 25 percent
In France, there are signs of low voter turnout
4/10/2022 1:32 p.m
French presidential polls point to a close race between incumbent Macron and his rival Le Pen. Around noon, the turnout is just around 25 percent – a negative record seems to be possible.
In France, the polling stations have opened for the first round of the presidential election. Around noon, the turnout was 25.48 percent, 3 percentage points lower than in 2017. Around 49 million French people are called to vote for the next head of state. According to the latest polls, President Emmanuel Macron and right-wing populist Marine Le Pen have the best chance of making it into the runoff.
It would be the second time Macron and Le Pen have met in a runoff. According to the polls, however, the result is likely to be tighter than five years ago. At that time, Macron had won the runoff with 66.1 percent. Depending on the poll, the two politicians were now between 3 and 6 points apart. The runoff will take place on April 24th.
Macron and his wife Brigitte wanted to vote in Le Touquet in northern France. As usual, Le Pen chooses Hénin-Beaumont, a hundred kilometers away. According to the latest polls, Macron could hope for 25 to 28 percent of the vote, Le Pen for 22 to 24 percent. Left-wing populist Jean-Luc Mélenchon came third in the polls with up to 18 percent of the vote. Le Pen and Mélenchon had recently increased continuously.
Political scientist expects many undecided
Experts do not rule out major surprises. “It’s the first election where so many people are undecided and have changed their minds, about every second Frenchman,” says political scientist Pascal Perrineau.
Several observers feared a very low turnout. Accordingly, even the record proportion of non-voters of 28.4 percent from 2002 could be broken. At that time, the turnout around noon was still below the reported value.
Because of the time difference, the election in the overseas territories had already started on Saturday. The turnout there was about as high as in the first round in 2017. The polling stations remain open until 7 p.m., in large cities also until 8 p.m.
In France, the publication of polls before the closing of the last polling station is prohibited. Several polling institutes have committed to forgo post-election polls. Extrapolations should therefore only be announced at 8 p.m.