election in France
Belgian media: Macron clearly leads
4/24/2022, 6:56 p.m
According to Belgian media reports, incumbent Macron is leading the presidential election in France. According to polls up to 5 p.m., he is ahead of his competitor Le Pen. The polling stations close at 8 p.m.
The elections in France are not over yet, but according to Belgian media reports, incumbent Emmanuel Macron is clearly ahead of his opponent Marine Le Pen. This was reported by the Belgian broadcaster RTBF and the newspaper “La Libre” in the early evening, citing polls up to 5 p.m . According to this, President Macron is ahead of the top candidate of the Rassemblent National with 55 to 58 percent of the votes. According to French law, such polls can only be published after the polling stations close at 8 p.m.
The newspaper “La Libre” appeals four French opinion polls among eligible voters who had already cast their vote. However, the first projections are not expected until after 8 p.m. Five years ago, Macron also beat Le Pen in the runoff. At that time he got 66.1 percent of the votes, his opponent 33.9.
Macron had also been ahead in polls before the election – he had been attested a similar lead. The Ministry of the Interior announced around 5 p.m. that by then 63.2 percent of those entitled had cast their votes – about two percentage points less than in 2017 at that time. In the first ballot fourteen days ago, turnout was 74.0 percent.
A low turnout poses dangers for Macron. For example, many voters for the left-wing extremist candidate Jean-Luc Mélenchon could find it difficult to vote for the economically liberal Macron in the runoff. Mélenchon missed the runoff in the first round of the election, but got the third best result with 22 percent after Macron (27.8) and Le Pen (23.2). The lead candidate then made no explicit recommendation for the presidential election, merely saying that Le Pen should not be voted for. The Mélenchon voters could stay away from the election.
High abstention helps Le Pen
Analysts warn that a high abstention could narrow the gap between Macron and Le Pen, posing a “real risk” for the Liberal incumbent. Macron and his allies have also repeatedly pointed out that the many voters who stayed at home in Britain and the USA in 2016 waiting for a clear result made Brexit and the election of Donald Trump to the US head of state possible in the first place.
Macron already cast his vote at noon. The Liberal voted together with his wife Brigitte at noon in Le Touquet-Paris-Plage in northern France, a coastal town on the English Channel around 250 kilometers from Paris. Hundreds of people had been waiting for the Macron couple in the city center of the coastal community and in front of the polling station. The President shook hands for minutes, gave autographs and had photos taken with him. Le Pen voted in the morning in Hénin-Beaumont near Lille in northern France.