High voter turnout for second round of French election
Figures at 17:00 are higher than they were last Sunday according to the Ministry of the Interior
This Sunday's turnout was the highest since 1981 for an election of this type.
Victor Velter / Ana-Marija Mrkic / Shutterstock
Voter turnout in the second and decisive round of the legislative elections in France stood at 59.71% at 17:00 on Sunday, July 7.
This figure, from the Ministry of the Interior, is up 0.32 points on the first round on June 30 at the same time (59.39%) and up more than 21 points on the second round of the 2022 legislative elections in the late afternoon (38.11%).
The increased turnout in the second round makes this the highest rate for a legislative election since 1981.
The Rassemblement National's traditional bastion of Bouches-du-Rhône saw the highest turnout nationally, with over 34.59% voting before noon.
At the bottom of the voting table, the eight departments of the Île-de-France region had the lowest turnout rates, ranging from 22.03% for Paris to 12.77% for Seine-Saint-Denis
Read more: When will the result of Sunday’s French election be known?
Turnout is traditionally down slightly in the second round.
This Sunday's turnout was the highest since 1981 (61.4%) for an election of this type.
What is the election about?
France is voting in members to its lower house of parliament. A total of 501 MPs are to be elected on July 7, out of a total of 577 seats. 76 MPs were directly elected after gaining more than 50% of the votes in the first round last Sunday.
The snap elections were called by President Macron after a landslide win by the Rassemblement National in June's European elections.
