French voter turnout falls sharply in second round

Voter turnout in the second round of France’s parliamentary election is sharply down on the last vote fi ve years ago, offi cial statistics show. By midday on Sunday only 17.75% had cast a ballot, down from 21.41% at the same time in the 2012 election. Th e second-round vote is a run-off between the top candidates from last Sunday’s fi rst round. President Emmanuel Macron is hoping to obtain a strong mandate in parliament to help him pursue his reform plans. His La République en Marche (Republic on the Move or LREM) with its MoDem allies is expected to win most seats. Traditional parties are urging voters to back Mr Macron’s rivals to stop a monopolisation of power. President Macron formed his party just over a year ago, and half of its candidates have little or no political experience. Th ey include a retired bullfi ghter, a Rwandan refugee and a mathematician. A party needs 289 seats to control the 577-seat National Assembly. LREM is predicted to win more than 400. In the fi rst round Mr Macron’s LREM and MoDem won 32.3% of the vote. Th e centre-right Republicans had 21.5%, while the far-right National Front (FN) had 13.2%, followed by the far-left La France Insoumise (France Unbowed) on just over 11%. Th e Socialists, previously France’s ruling party, and their allies won just 9.5%. However, the turnout was low, despite claims that President Macron had re-energised the voting public. Analysts said it refl ected a sense of resignation among his opponents.