French go to the polls in 1st round of presidential election

PARIS (AP) — French citizens flocked to polling stations across the country Sunday to vote in the first round of the country’s presidential election, where up to 48 million eligible voters will be choosing between 12 candidates.

Centrist President Emmanuel Macron is seeking a second five-year term, but faces a strong challenge from the far right.

Polls close at 7 p.m. (1700 GMT) in most places and an hour later in some larger cities. By noon, just over a quarter of France’s electorate had cast their ballot, slightly down from previous elections. France operates a manual system for elections: Voters are obliged to cast ballots in person, and they are hand-counted once voting closes.

Unless someone gets more than half of the nationwide vote, there will be a second and decisive round between the top two candidates on Sunday, April 24.

Bundled up against an April chill, voters lined up to cast ballots at one polling station in southern Paris on Sunday before it opened. Once inside, they placed their paper ballots into envelopes and then into a transparent box, many wearing masks or using hand gel as part of COVID-19 measures.