Polls: Le Pen's party wins the first round of French elections

2024-06-30 21:50:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

Polls: Le Pen's party wins the first round of French elections

Marine Le Pen after the results of the first round of early legislative elections, June 30, 2024.

Marine Le Pen's far-right National Rally party has emerged victorious in the first round of early parliamentary elections held in France on June 30, according to polls.

Polls conducted by Ipsos, Ifop, OpinionWay and Elabe predicted that Le Pen's party will win around 34 percent of the vote.

Supporters of Marine Le Pen during her speech after the conclusion of the first round of parliamentary elections.
After the polls closed, Le Pen addressed voters asking them to give the National Rally an "absolute victory" in the 577-seat Parliament.

According to the polls, Le Pen is expected to have a majority in Parliament and after the second round an absolute majority, enabling this far-right party to be in power for the first time.

After the first round of elections, Macron called for a "broad" alliance against the far-right during the second round of elections.

About 49 million voters had the right to vote in the early parliamentary elections and the turnout in the first round was high.

The Elabe organization predicted a final turnout of 67.5 percent, or the highest turnout in a parliamentary election in France since 1981. The final turnout in the 2022 election was just 47.5 percent.

In the first round, contests were held in 577 electoral units, one for each seat in the National Assembly, the Lower House of Parliament.

Supporters of Marine Le Pen during her speech after the conclusion of the first round of parliamentary elections.

According to the French electoral system, candidates who win an absolute majority in their constituency are elected in the first round. If the candidates do not meet this criterion, then the second round of elections will be held.

To qualify for a runoff, candidates must win votes from at least 12.5 percent of registered voters in the first round.

The candidate who wins the most votes competes in the second round.

Macron's decision to call snap elections came after the National Rally fared well in parliamentary elections held this month, surprising friends and foes and fueling uncertainty in Europe's second-largest economy.

That would create a tense period of "coexistence" with Macron, who has insisted he will see out his second presidential term - which ends in 2027 - regardless of which party wins the election.

Bardella has said that he will form the Government only if the National Rally scores an absolute victory in the elections.

Before the election, Macron warned voters that a victory by the extreme right or the hard left could trigger a "civil war"./REL