In the first round of parliamentary elections in France, one in four eligible voters had cast their vote by noon, the Ministry of the Interior in Paris reported on Sunday.
Turnout was 25.9% at 12 noon (1000 GMT). This was 7.47 percentage points higher than at the same time during the previous parliamentary elections two years ago.
About 49.3 million registered voters can cast their votes. The last polling stations are expected to close at 8 p.m. Projections of the outcome of the first round are expected shortly afterwards.
Several leading politicians already cast their votes this morning, including former presidents Nicolas Sarkozy and François Hollande.
In Nice, the head of a polling station was beaten by an election worker who tried to prevent the polling station from opening, Nice Mayor Christian Estrosi said. Police arrested the attacker.
President Emmanuel Macron called early elections after the far-right National Rally (RN) made major gains in the European Parliament elections early this month.
The RN is leading the elections ahead of the new left-wing alliance, the New Popular Front (NPF), which was recently formed to contest the elections. The Ensemble (Together) alliance, led by Macron’s Renaissance party, is in third place.
Recent polls put Macron’s centrist camp in third place with between 20% and 20.5%. Le Pen’s RN and his allies were clearly ahead with 36% to 36.5%, followed by the NPF with 29%.
