A voter stands in a polling booth during the second round of legislative elections in Le Touquet-Paris-Plage, northern France, on Sunday.
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Muhammad Badra/AP
PARIS – Voting took place in mainland France on Sunday in a crucial round of elections that could deliver a historic victory to far-right National Rally Marine Le Pen and her anti-immigrant vision – or return parliament and political deadlock.
French President Emmanuel Macron took a huge gamble to dissolve parliament and call elections after centrists were defeated in European elections on June 9.
A snap election in this nuclear-armed country will affect the war in Ukraine, global diplomacy and European economic stability, and will almost certainly damage Macron’s three-year presidency.
The first round on June 30 saw the biggest gains for the anti-immigration, nationalist National Rally, led by Marine Le Pen.
More than 49 million people are registered to vote in the election, which will determine which party controls the 577-member National Assembly, France’s influential lower house of parliament, and who will become prime minister. If support grows for Macron’s weak centrist majority, he will be forced to share power with parties opposed to his generally pro-business, pro-EU policies.
Voters at Paris polling stations are acutely aware of the possible consequences for France and beyond.
“Individual freedom, tolerance and respect for others are at stake today,” said Thomas Bertrand, a 45-year-old voter who works in advertising.
Racism and antisemitism have marred the election campaign, along with Russia’s cyber campaign, and more than 50 candidates have reportedly been physically attacked – unusual for France. The government sent 30,000 policemen on voting day.
French President Emmanuel Macron, right, votes for the second round of legislative elections in Le Touquet-Paris-Plage, northern France, on Sunday.
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Muhammad Badra/AP
Tensions are rising as France celebrates a special summer: Paris will host the ambitious Olympics, the national soccer team reaches the semifinals of the Euro 2024 championship, and the Tour de France races across the country alongside the Olympic torch. .
At noon local time, turnout was at 26.63%, according to the French Interior Ministry, slightly higher than the 25.90% reported at the same time during the first round last Sunday.
During the first round, almost 67% of the highest voter turnout since 1997, ending almost three decades of deepening voter apathy for legislative elections and, for many French people, politics in general.
Macron cast his vote in the seaside resort town of La Touquet, alongside his wife Brigitte. Prime Minister Gabriel Attal voted earlier in the Paris suburb of Vanves.
Le Pen did not vote, as the district in northern France did not hold a second round after she won the seat outright last week. Across France, 76 other candidates won seats in the first round, including 39 from the National Rally and 32 from the leftist New Popular Front alliance. Two candidates from Macron’s list of centrists also won seats in the first round.
Voting ends Sunday at 8pm (1800 GMT) in mainland France and on the island of Corsica. Early poll projections are expected on Sunday, with early official results expected late Sunday and early Monday.
Voters living in America and in the French overseas territories of Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon, Saint-Barthélemy, Saint-Martin, Guadeloupe, Martinique, Guyana and French Polynesia voted on Saturday.
The election could leave France with its first right-wing government since the Nazi occupation in World War II if the National Rally wins an absolute majority and 28-year-old leader Jordan Bardella becomes prime minister. The party came out in the first round of voting the previous week, followed by a coalition of centre-left, left-left and Green parties, and Macron’s centrist alliance.
Pierre Lubin, a 45-year-old business manager, worries whether the election will produce an effective government.
“It’s a concern for us,” Lubin said. “Will it be a technical government or a coalition government made up of (various) political forces?”
The results remain highly uncertain. Polls between the two rounds showed that the National Rally could win the most seats in the 577-seat National Assembly but fell short of the 289 seats needed for a majority. It will still make history, if a party associated with xenophobia and denigration of the Holocaust, and for a long time seen as a pariah, becomes the greatest political force in France.
If he wins a majority, Macron will be forced to share power with prime ministers who disagree with the president’s domestic and foreign policies, in an awkward arrangement known in France as “cohabitation.”
Another possibility is that no party has a majority, resulting in a hung parliament. This could lead Macron to seek to negotiate a coalition with the center-left or to name a technocratic government with no political connections.
No matter what happens, Macron’s centrist camp will be forced to show strength. Many alliance candidates lost in the first round or withdrew, meaning that not enough people ran to come anywhere close to the majority they had in 2017 when they became president for the first time, or the plurality they obtained in 2022. legislative vote.
Both will be unprecedented for modern France, and make it more difficult for the European Union number 2 economy to make bold decisions in arming Ukraine, reforming labor laws or reducing the large deficit. Financial markets have been jittery since Macron surprised even his closest allies in June by announcing a snap election after the National Rally won the most seats for France in European Parliament elections.
Whatever happens, Macron has said he will not step down and will remain president until his term ends in 2027.
Many French voters, especially in small towns and rural areas, are frustrated by their low incomes and the seeming elitist political leadership of Paris that does not care about the daily struggles of workers. The National Rally has connected with these voters, often by blaming immigration for France’s problems, and has built broad and deep support over the past decade.
Le Pen has scaled back many of her party’s positions – she has not called for an exit from NATO and the EU – to make herself more electable. But the core right-wing values ​​of the party remain. They want a referendum on whether being born in France is enough to get citizenship, to block the rights of dual citizens, and to give the police more freedom to use their weapons.
With an uncertain outcome looming in the high-stakes election, Valerie Dodeman, a 55-year-old lawyer said she is pessimistic about France’s future.
“No matter what happens, I think this election is going to make people unhappy on all sides,” Dodeman said.
