Macron 27.85%, Le Pen 23.15%: Final results of France’s first-round election
The final results of the first round of France’s very tightly fought presidential election show that incumbent President Emmanuel Macron has won 27.85 percent of the votes while far-right veteran Marine Le Pen secured 23.15 percent, as the pair prepares for a run-off.
In a statement on Monday, the interior ministry announced the final results, allowing both Macron and Le Pen to advance to a run-off, while far-left leader Jean-Luc Melenchon came in third at 21.95 percent.
Although Melenchon was knocked out of the first round but still he managed to achieve a higher score than many polls had predicted, prompting analysts to say that his electorate will determine how Macron and Le Pen will fare in the second round on April 24.
The Upstart far-right media pundit, Eric Zemmour, the only candidate among the nine others who could one score above five percent by obtaining 7.07 percent, has already told his voters to support Le Pen.
Sunday’s voter turnout was 73.69 percent, resulting in abstentions of 26.31 percent, up four percentage points from the abstentions of 22.2 percent in the first round of 2017, in which Macron and Le Pen went to the run-off.
Macron has promised to continue to lower taxes, and raise the pension age to 65, while Le Pen has focused on the cost-of-living crisis. She is also campaigning to ban the Muslim head-scarf from all public places, as part of her anti-immigration program.
Analysts believe the upcoming clash between Macron and Le Pen will be far tighter than in 2017, when the current president thrashed his rival with 66 percent of the votes.
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