PARIS (Reuters) – Marin Le Pen beat President Emmanuel Macron by a narrow margin in the first round. The second round match between the two will take place on April 24.
Macron has a four-point lead in the first round, with both candidates performing better than in 2017. Macron won 27.8 percent of the vote, while Le Pen won 23.3 percent. No one got more than 50 per cent of the vote and moved on to the second phase. With two of the two most-voted men, the 2017 second round of elections paved the way for a run-off. Le Pen, a far-right leader, reckons he will win a majority in the second round, when only the two will face off.
In the first phase, which saw the lowest turnout in 20 years, the turnout was 73.3 per cent. The far-left leader, Zong Luke Melancon, won a landslide victory with one – fifth of the vote – 22 percent.
Macron, meanwhile, is hoping to be re-elected for the first time since Jack Shirak. Macron is expected to make it to the polls. On the other hand, the sharp rise in Marin Lee Penn’s popularity over the weeks is a sign that the forecasts will be subverted.