French Elections: Far-Right Rassemblement National Wins First Round Per Exit Polls
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The Far right Rassemblement National (RN) party has won the first round of France’s snap parliamentary elections, according to first exit polls released immediately after polling booths closed.
Per a poll released by France’s TF1 network, RN has taken 34.5 % of the votes, with the hastily assembled Left wing New Popular Front (NPF) alliance trailing behind with 28.5% and President Emmanuel Macron’s centrist Ensemble bloc out of the second with 22.5%.
Voting stations opened at 6am local time and were due to close 6pm in smaller towns and 8pm in the big cities.
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Macron called the snap election on June 9 in response to hefty gains by RN in European elections, in which 373 million citizens from 27 countries belonging to the European Union bloc voted on its 720-seat European parliament.
The French turnout for that poll was less than 50% of the electorate but Macron said result posed “a danger” to France. He said he could not act as if nothing had happened and that he was putting the ball back in the court of the French people with a general election.
At 5pm local time, the Ministry of the Interior announced that a participation rate of 59.39%, 20 percentage points higher than the first round of 2022.
Polling groups suggesting this would give an eventual rate of between 67,5% to 69,7%, which would be one of the highest turnouts ever in recent French election history.
The French are voting for the 577 members of the country’s general assembly, or parliament. It will be followed by a second round on July 7, for seats where there is no clear majority, with the winner then being the candidate with the most votes.