First batch of polling stations close in French presidential runoff

Paris, May 7 (IANS) The first batch of polling stations on France's European mainland closed at 7 p.m. local time in Sunday's runoff of the presidential election.

Stations located outside cities like Paris, Lyon, Marseille and Strasbourg will open for one hour longer (till 8 p.m. local time), Xinhua news agency reported.

More than 66,000 polling stations in the French European mainland opened at 8 p.m. local time for the decisive vote.

There are nearly 47 million eligible voters across France but the turnout this year might be lower than the 2012 election, according to pollsters' estimates.

An estimation by research firm Elabe for BFMTV indicates a final turnout of 74 per cent, a figure smaller than the 80.35 per cent in the 2012 runoff vote.

According to another estimation by Ipsos/Sopra Steria for French media, the final abstention rate for the second round is expected to be 26 per cent, highest since 1969.

The turnout at 5 p.m. local time in the runoff was 65.30 per cent, also lower than the figure in 2012, which stood at 71.96 per cent, the French interior ministry said.

The French election law bans the publication of any early poll or counting results of the vote before all polling stations are closed.

Preliminary projections of the voting results are expected to be revealed by various sources after 8 p.m. when all polling stations are closed.

The presidential race is between centrist candidate Emmanuel Macron and far-rightist Marine Le Pen.

Opinion polls before the vote estimated that the former minister of economy Macron would defeat his far-right rival by at least 20 points.