Voters in France head to polls for 2nd round of critical parliament elections

Over 43M voters to cast ballots after President Macron called snap elections on June 9, following defeat in EU elections, far-right surge

By Nur Asena Erturk

ANKARA (AA) — Voters in France started heading to polling stations for the second round of elections on Sunday to elect new members of parliament as the country finds itself at a crucial political crossroads.

Over 43 million registered voters will be able to cast ballots to elect remaining 501 members of the National Assembly, the lower chamber of parliament, for a five-year term.

Polling stations opened at 8 a.m. (0600GMT), with voting continuing for up to 12 hours.

French President Emmanuel Macron dissolved the parliament and announced snap elections after the far-right National Rally (RN) swept more than 31% of the vote in the European Parliament elections on June 9, defeating his centrist bloc.

The first round of the elections took place on June 30 with a turnout of over 65% and over 49 million voters cast ballots.

The RN got 29.26% of the vote by itself, a rate that rises to over 33% when combined with its allies, according to official election results.

The left-wing alliance New Popular Front (NFP) got 28.06%, and the centrist Together for the Republic alliance backed by Macron finished third with slightly over 20.04%.

A political party or alliance needs at least 289 seats to secure a majority in the National Assembly.

Some candidates got a majority of at least 50% in their constituencies and were elected in the first round, hence a second round will not be held in 76 constituencies across France, where RN got 37 seats, NFP 32, and Together two.

However, candidates who fell short of 50% in the first round will now fight to have the highest tally.

More than 210 candidates - including 131 from the NFP and 82 from Together - who accessed the second round withdrew last week in favor of a stronger peer who might have a better chance of countering the far right.

The strategy is simple: The candidate who withdraws from the race is working to avoid dividing ballots opposing the right wing and so makes room for another candidate who might have a better chance beating an RN candidate.

About his future plans, President Macron said he intends to stay on until the next presidential election in 2027.

According to the law, there is no strict deadline for Macron to nominate a new prime minister to form the government.

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