Who is popular today?

France has started voting in a presidential runoff election with repercussions for Europe’s future, with centrist incumbent Emmanuel Macron the front-runner but fighting a tough challenge from far-right rival Marine Le Pen.
The centrist Macron is asking voters to trust him for a second five-year term despite a presidency troubled by protests, the pandemic and the war in Ukraine. A Macron victory in this vote would make him the first French president in 20 years to win a second term.
The result of voting in France, a nuclear-armed nation with one of the world’s biggest economies, could also impact the conflict in Ukraine, as France has played a key role in diplomatic efforts and support for sanctions against Russia.
Le Pen’s support in France’s electorate has grown during this campaign to her highest level ever, and much will depend on Sunday on how many people turn out to vote. Participation was 26.1 per cent at midday, slightly higher than at the same point in the first-round vote on April 10th.
Many of those expected to choose Macron are doing so to keep out Le Pen and ideas seen as too extreme and anti-democratic, such as her plan to ban the Muslim headscarf in public, or her ties to Russia.
“I am serene,” she said as she cast her ballot in the northern town of Henin-Beaumont. “I have confidence in the French.” She took selfies with fans, as Macron greeted crowds with handshakes and embraces in the English Channel coastal town of Le Touquet.
Both candidates are trying to court the 7.7 million votes of leftist candidate Jean-Luc Melenchon, who was defeated in the first round on April 10th.
For many who voted for left-wing candidates in the first round, the runoff presents an unpalatable choice between a nationalist in Le Pen, and a president who some feel has veered to the right during his first term. The outcome could depend on how left-wing voters make up their minds: between backing Macron or abstaining and leaving him to fend for himself against Le Pen.
Voting west of Paris in the suburb of Le Pecq, Stephanie David cast her ballot for Macron “without much joy”. She had voted for the Communist Party candidate in round one.
“It was the least worst choice,” said the transport logistics worker. Le Pen was anathema to her: “Even if she tries to soften her rhetoric, I can’t stomach it.”
All opinion polls in recent days converge toward a win for the 44-year-old pro-European Macron — yet the margin over his 53-year-old far-right rival varies broadly. Polls also forecast a possibly record-high number of people who will either cast a blank vote or not vote at all.
Retiree Jean-Pierre Roux voted to keep out Le Pen’s father Jean-Marie in the 2002 runoff and again against his daughter in 2017. But Roux could not bring himself to vote Macron again this time. He put an empty envelope in the voting box. He said he regarded Macron as too arrogant to vote for again, citing a common complaint of the president that Le Pen echoed, too.
“I am not against his ideas but I cannot stand the person,” he said.
Le Pen has sought to appeal to working class voters struggling with surging prices amid the fallout of Russia’s war in Ukraine — an approach that even Macron acknowledged has found resonance in the wider public. She said bringing down the cost of living would be her priority if elected as France’s first woman president, and she portrayed herself as the candidate for voters unable to make ends meet.
She says that Macron’s presidency has left the country deeply divided. She has repeatedly referenced the so-called yellow vest protest movement that rocked his government before the Covid-19 pandemic, with months of violent demonstrations against his economic policies that some thought hurt the poorest.
France’s presidential campaign has been especially challenging for voters of immigrant heritage and religious minorities, notably because of Le Pen’s proposed policies targeting Muslims.
Macron has also touted his environmental and climate accomplishments in a bid to draw in young voters popular with far left candidates. Citizens and especially millennials voted in droves for Melenchon. Many young voters are particularly engaged with climate issues.
Although Macron was associated with the slogan “Make The Planet Great Again”, in his first five-year term, he capitulated to angry yellow vest protesters by scrapping a tax hike on fuel prices.
Macron has said his next prime minister would be placed in charge of environmental planning as France seeks to become carbon neutral by 2050.
Le Pen, once considered a climate-change sceptic, wants to scrap subsidies for renewable energies. She vowed to dismantle windfarms and invest in nuclear and hydro energy.
Polls Open
The French voted on Sunday in an election that will decide whether pro-European Union, centrist President Emmanuel Macron keeps his job or is unseated by far-right eurosceptic Marine Le Pen in what would amount to a political earthquake.
Opinion polls in recent days gave Macron a solid and slightly growing lead as analysts said Le Pen - despite her efforts to soften her image and tone down some of her National Rally party’s policies - remained unpalatable for many.
But a surprise Le Pen victory could not be ruled out. With polls showing neither candidate able to count on enough core supporters to win, much will depend on those still weighing up anxiety about the implications of a far-right presidency against anger at Macron’s record since his 2017 election.
A Le Pen victory would mark a political upheaval for Western democracies on a par with Brexit or the U.S. election of Donald Trump in 2016, ending decades of rule by mainstream French leaders and the latest threat to the future of the European Union.
Polls opened at 8 am. and will close at 8 pm. Initial projections by pollsters are expected as soon as polls close.
By noon, some 26.4 per cent of voters had cast their ballots - two points down on 2017 when final turnout was already at its lowest point for nearly half a century.
Hugo Winter, a 26-year-old salesman in Paris, said he would be among those who would not bother to cast a vote.
“I don’t see the point in choosing between two things that don’t correspond to my ideas,” Winter said as he did some morning food shopping. “We live in a parallel world. The politicians don’t represent the people.”
In Douai, a mid-sized town in northern France where Le Pen was ahead of Macron in the first round of voting two weeks ago, pensioner Andre Loeuillet, 69, said she had voted for Macron, as she did on April 10th.
“He has his faults but he has qualities too. He is the one best placed to continue, we are living through difficult times,” she said.
Macron, 44, who won against Le Pen in the last presidential election five years ago, has warned of “civil war” if Le Pen - whose policies include a ban on wearing Muslim headscarves in public - is elected and has called on democrats of all stripes to back him.
Le Pen, 53, focused her campaign on the rising cost of living in the world’s seventh largest economy, which many French say has worsened with the surge in global energy prices. She has also zeroed in on Macron’s abrasive leadership style, which she says shows an elitist contempt for ordinary people.
“The question on Sunday is simple: Macron or France,” she told a rally in the northern town of Arras on Thursday.
Dislike
Among early voters in the village of Souille, near the northwestern town of Le Mans, civil servant Pascal Pauloin, 56, said he had voted for Le Pen out of disenchantment with Macron.
“Frankly, I am very disappointed. Our France has not been working well for years. Macron has done nothing for the middle classes, and the gap with the rich is getting ever wider,” he said.
Le Pen, who has also been criticised by Macron for her past admiration of Russian President Vladimir Putin, rejects accusations of racism. She said her plans to give priority to French citizens for social housing and jobs and scrap a number of welfare benefits for foreigners would benefit all French, independently of their religion or origins.
Jean-Daniel Levy, of Harris Interactive pollsters, said opinion surveys showed Le Pen was unlikely to win, because that would require huge shifts in voter intentions.
If Macron prevails he will face a difficult second term, with none of the grace period that he enjoyed after his first victory, and protests likely over his plan to continue pro-business reforms, including raising the retirement age from 62 to 65.
If she unseats him, Le Pen would seek to make radical changes to France’s domestic and international policies, and street protests could start immediately. Shockwaves would be felt across Europe and beyond.
Whoever comes out on top, a first major challenge will be to win parliamentary elections in June to secure a workable majority to implement their programmes.
Polls open
France began voting in a presidential run-off election on Sunday in a race between incumbent Emmanuel Macron and far-right politician Marine Le Pen.
Mr Macron is in pole position to win re-election in the country’s presidential run-off, yet his lead over Ms Le Pen depends on one major uncertainty: voters who could decide to stay home.
A Macron victory in this vote would make him the first French president in 20 years to win a second term.
All opinion polls in recent days converge toward a win for the 44-year-old pro-European centrist — yet the margin over his nationalist rival varies broadly, from six to 15 percentage points, depending on the poll.
Polls also forecast a possibly record-high number of people who will either cast a blank vote or not vote at all.
Polling stations opened at 8am local time on Sunday and close at 7pm in most places, apart from big cities that have chosen to keep stations open until 8pm. - PA with additional reporting by Reuters