Read more about French election: President Macron in pole position, Le Pen racing hard on Business Standard. Polls also forecast a possibly record-high number of people who will either cast a blank vote or not vote at all
French President is in the pole position to win reelection on Sunday in the country’s presidential runoff, yet his lead over far-right rival depends on one major uncertainty: voters who could decide to stay home. A Macron victory in this vote which could have far-reaching repercussions for Europe’s future direction and Western efforts to stop the war in Ukraine 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 6 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. Overseas French territories allowed voters to start casting ballots on Saturday in polling stations that ranged from near the Caribbean shore in the Antilles to the savannahs of French Guiana on the South American coast. Back on the French mainland, workers assembled a stage Saturday beneath the Eiffel Tower where Macron is expected to make his post-election speech, win or lose. France’s April 10 first-round vote eliminated 10 other presidential candidates, and who becomes the country’s next leader Macron or Le Pen will largely depend on what supporters of those losing candidates do on Sunday. The question is a hard one, especially for leftist voters who dislike Macron but don’t want to see Le Pen in power either. Macron issued multiple appeals to leftist voters in recent days in hopes of securing their support. “Think about what British citizens were saying a few hours before Brexit or (people) in the US before Trump’s election happened: I’m not going, what’s the point?’ I can tell you that they regretted it the next day, Macron warned this week on 5 television.
