The second round of regional and departmental elections was held in France on Sunday.
The polling stations opened at 8 a.m. on Sunday morning.
The runoff elections had become necessary because in many places no list had achieved the necessary absolute majority in the first round.
A week ago, the Conservatives emerged as the strongest force.
Marine Le Pen's right-wing populists won significantly fewer votes than expected.
President Emmanuel Macron's party fared even worse.
It's the last sentiment test before the April 2022 presidential election that Le Pen wants to challenge Macron. Your Rassemblement National party could theoretically win the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur (Paca) region in the south of France. Other parties there are making pacts with the conservatives to prevent this from happening. Pollsters are again counting on massive abstention.
In the first round, Le Pen had already attributed the poor performance to the record abstention of a good two thirds of the voters.
It was the lowest turnout for such a vote in the post-war period.
Government spokesman Gabriel Attal attributed the absence of voters to the corona pandemic.
However, the infection situation had previously eased significantly.
The elections a week ago coincided with a relaxation of the corona requirements.
mkü / lan