Paris. The first round of France’s 2022 presidential election will take place on Sunday and if none of the 12 qualified candidates get an absolute majority, a re-election will be held on April 24 between the remaining two candidates. The country’s highest constitutional authority, the Constitutional Council, published the final list of all 12 candidates, including incumbent President Emmanuel Macron, in early March, Xinhua news agency reported.
Each of these candidates had received at least 500 sponsorship letters from the mayor and local officials.
Macron should advance to the first round, according to a poll on voting intentions published by market research firm Ipsos on 6 April. He is to be followed by Marine Le Pen of the right-wing National Rally party and Jean-Luc Mélenchon, who leads the left-wing La France Insomais (unaffiliated France) party.
Ipsos said purchasing power, the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, the environment, the health system, immigration and social inequalities are the topics that most interest French voters.
The National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies (INSEE) reported that 48.8 million French citizens had registered to vote in the presidential election.
Of them 47.05 million are registered on municipal lists and 1.43 million on consular lists abroad.
INSEE said that about 95 percent of eligible French citizens have registered to vote.
According to another Ipsos survey, 30 percent of eligible voters are undecided about their participation in the first election round.
The absenteeism rate in the first round of the last presidential election was 28.4 percent.
Polling stations will remain open from 8 am to 7 pm on Sunday. In major cities such as Paris, Lyon or Marseille, polling stations can remain open until 8 pm.
Corona cases are increasing in France. The Interior Ministry has announced a health protocol for polling stations.
According to the ministry, vaccine passes or negative corona test reports will not be required for those entering polling stations.
Wearing of face masks and social distancing will not be mandatory, but will be recommended for elderly, vulnerable and coronavirus positive persons.
The official preliminary results of the Ministry of Interior first round will be announced on Sunday night or Monday morning.
No candidate has won the French presidency in the first round since the switch to universal suffrage for the presidential elections of the Fifth French Republic.
—AnyTV News
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