France election: Macron is clearly ahead in extrapolation - but for Le Pen everything is still open thanks to the runoff election

Created: 04/11/2022, 09:56

By: Patrick Mayer

Emmanuel Macron wins the first round of the French presidential election.

Challenger Marine Le Pen still has chances.

All information in the news ticker.

• Presidential election in France

  : According to the first projections, Emmanuel Macron is well ahead of Marine Le Pen.

• Both reach the

  run-off

  : Le Pen wants to "fix" France after the vote.

• Current polls and forecasts

  :

  Incumbent Emmanuel Macron is ahead in the battle for the presidency.

• This

  news ticker for the presidential election in France 2022

  is continuously updated.

Note: The table lists the first six of a total of twelve candidates.

All other candidates have 3.2 percent of the votes or less.

Update from April 11, 6:31 a.m .:

After the success of the liberal Emmanuel Macron * and the right Marine Le Pen * in the first round of the presidential election, France is facing a directional decision.

The 44-year-old incumbent Macron and his 53-year-old challenger Le Pen qualified on Sunday for the runoff on April 24 *.

For Macron and Le Pen, the next two weeks will be about mobilizing voters outside their camp.

This could be much more difficult for the incumbent than it was in 2017, even if numerous failed candidates expressed their support on Sunday evening.

Many French people see Macron as out of touch after five years in power.

Some left-leaning voters may find it difficult to vote for him, for example because Macron has relaxed protection against dismissal and abolished wealth tax.

On Sunday evening, the incumbent warned against too much certainty of victory.

Le Pen, on the other hand, who has been fighting for a moderate image for years, is now considered eligible in parts of the middle-right camp.

She could win supporters of the eliminated Conservative Valérie Pécresse in the second round.

Extreme right-wing publicist Zemmour called on his supporters to vote for Le Pen.

She can hardly hope for votes from the centre-left camp.

But it would help her if frustrated leftists simply stayed away from the election and thus boosted Le Pen's share of the vote.

Projection for the French election there – but Macron thinks “nothing is decided”

Update from April 10, 10:45 p.m .:

After entering the second round of the presidential election, France’s head of state Emmanuel Macron warned against premature certainty of victory.

"Let's not make a mistake, nothing has been decided," said Macron on Sunday evening in Paris.

Referring to his right-wing challenger, Marine Le Pen, Macron advocated an independent and strong France, anchored in a strong Europe, rather than a xenophobic France withdrawing from the international stage.

He is concerned with a France that offers progress for everyone who strives for full employment and is able to finance social benefits and a welfare state.

Update from April 10, 10:10 p.m .:

Emmanuel Macron won the first round of the French presidential election – but Marine Le Pen got a record result *.

What does that mean for the runoff?

France election 2022: Macron is ahead in the poll for the runoff

Update from April 10, 9:55 p.m .:

According to an initial survey, President Emmanuel Macron could win the second decisive round of the French presidential election by two points.

In a poll by the Ifop-Fiducial institute published on Sunday evening, Macron received 51 percent of the votes, while right-wing populist Marine Le Pen won 49 percent.

In the runoff five years ago, Macron won 66 to 34 percent.

Immediately after the first projections were announced on Sunday evening, Le Pen called for a broad electoral alliance.

She appealed to everyone who had not voted for Macron to join her. Meanwhile, several left-wing candidates called for Macron's election "to put a stop to right-wing extremism".

Third-placed left-wing populist Jean-Luc Mélenchon also called for Macron to be elected.

According to polls, however, some of his voters could also vote for Le Pen in the runoff.

French President: Emmanuel Macron (Wed.).

© IMAGO/Xinhua

France election 2022: Green candidate calls for Macron's election

Update from April 10, 9:45 p.m .:

The green candidate in the French presidential election, Yannick Jadot, called for support for Emmanuel Macron in the runoff election in two weeks after leaving.

This should prevent the right Marine Le Pen, said Jadot this Sunday evening.

"No one should downplay the fundamental threat that the far right poses to democracy, civil peace, ecology and the values ​​of the republic."

At the same time, Jadot warned Macron: “Our voice is not considered to be support for his responsibility for the disruption of the country through climate policy inaction, social failure, conformity and democratic disregard.

“The 54-year-old, who performed worse than expected with about 4.5 percent of the vote, also set course for the upcoming general election in June, which will decide the presidential power.

“Ecology will be absent from the runoff.

In the five-year term of office, she must not be.” One will not give up, one will act.

"The ecology, that is the republic."

France election 2022: Le Pen calls for a broad electoral alliance for the second round

Update from April 10, 9:10 p.m .:

The right-wing populist Marine Le Pen has called for a broad electoral alliance with a view to the second round of the French presidential election.

"I call on everyone who did not vote for (President Emmanuel) Macron to join us," she said in an address to her supporters half an hour after the polls closed on Sunday evening.

According to the projections, she has 23.5 to 24.7 percent of the votes, Macron between 27 and 29.7 percent.

"We won, we won," chanted their supporters.

Le Pen spoke of a "big, unifying project".

She stands for "economic patriotism" and the "restoration of state authority" and she wants to "put France in order".

Le Pen is three to five points behind Macron, according to polls ahead of the first round of voting.

It is the second time Le Pen and Macron have faced each other in the runoff.

Five years ago, Macron had won 66 percent by far.

This time, the pollsters are starting from a much tighter result.

Le Pen can count on a majority of voters for far-right Eric Zemmour.

According to extrapolations, the provocative surprise candidate, who temporarily overtook them in the polls, only managed about eight percent in the end.

His voters will largely vote for Le Pen.

Several left-wing candidates immediately called for “stop right-wing extremism” and vote for Macron.

France election 2022: Le Pen can probably count on votes from Zemmour

Update from April 10, 8:40 p.m .:

According to the first projections, Emmanuel Macron is well ahead of Marine Le Pen. However, that does not mean that the incumbent is the clear favorite in the run-off election on April 24th.

Because: The right-wing extremist candidate

For example, Éric Zemmour got 7.2% of the votes.

The votes that went to him are expected in the second round from Le Pen, not from Macron.

The same goes for the 2.3% of the vote that national conservative Nicolas Dupont-Aignan got.

It remains exciting.

Update from April 10, 8:30 p.m .:

The former popular parties in France, the socialists and the conservatives, suffered historic defeats in the first round of the presidential election.

According to projections by broadcasters France 2 and TF1 on Sunday evening, the bourgeois-conservative party Les Républicains, with lead candidate Valérie Pécresse, received only 4.6 to 5 percent of the vote.

The Socialists, who were President François Hollande from 2012 to 2017, fell to 1.9 to 2.1 percent.

France election 2022: Macron and Le Pen move into the runoff

Update from April 10, 8:15 p.m .:

According to projections, the incumbent head of state Emmanuel Macron and the right-wing Marine Le Pen are ahead in the first round of the French presidential election.

As the broadcasters France 2 and TF1 reported on Sunday evening after the polling stations had closed, the Liberal and his competitor from the Rassemblement National are moving into the run-off election on April 24th.

According to TF1, Macron was 28.6 percent, well ahead of Le Pen with 24.4 percent.

France 2 extrapolated Macron at 28.1 percent ahead of Le Pen at 23.3 percent.

Macron and Le Pen will now face off on April 24 - a repeat of the 2017 runoff duel in which Le Pen ultimately lost to Macron.

Polls predicted a much tighter outcome for this time.

Again and again, the candidate who finished second in the first round won the run-off in the French presidential election.

France election 2022: Macron is well ahead of Le Pen in the first projection

Update from April 10, 8 p.m.:

The first projections for the French election are here: Emmanuel Macron gets 28.1% of the votes, right-wing populist Marine Le Pen gets 23.3% of the votes.

Incumbents Macron and Le Pen are moving into the second round of the presidential election.

According to initial information from the election research institutes on Sunday evening, Macron received 27 to 29.7 percent of the votes.

This puts him ahead of right-wing populist Marine Le Pen in the first round, who comes in at 23.5 to 24.7.

According to the first extrapolation, the other votes are distributed as follows: Melenchon 20.1%, Zemmour 7.2%, Pecresse 5.0%, Janot 4.4%, Lassalle 3.3%, Roussel 2.7%, Dupont Aignan 2.3% Hidalgo 2.1% Arthaud 0.8% Toutou 0.7%

France election 2022: Le Pen clearly caught up with Macron in the polls

Update from April 10, 7:05 p.m .:

As expected, the turnout will be low.

By the afternoon, this was four percentage points lower than in the previous election.

As ZDF reports, turnout in the capital Paris with its approximately 2.1 million inhabitants (core city) was below average.

By 5 p.m., 65% of eligible voters had cast their votes at the polling stations.

Update from April 10, 6:50 p.m .:

The right-wing populist Marine Le Pen has caught up a lot with the liberal incumbent Emmanuel Macron in the past few weeks.

This is shown by the surveys of the "Ipsos" institute.

On March 17, Macron still had a solid lead with 31% of the expected votes.

Le Pen got 15% at the time.

Immediately before the French election, the 53-year-old lawyer was at 23%, just behind Macron (26%).

Source: Ipsos

France election 2022: By 5 p.m., 65% of those entitled to vote had voted

Update from April 10, 5:55 p.m .:

In France, almost two thirds of the registered voters cast their votes in the first round of the presidential election on Sunday by 5 p.m.

At 65.0 percent, turnout was initially slightly lower than 69.42 at the same time in the first ballot in 2017, as the Ministry of the Interior in Paris announced.

In 2007, by 5 p.m. almost three quarters of the registered voters had voted (73.63 percent).

With the historically low voter turnout in 2002, the value in the afternoon was only 58.45 percent.

About 48.7 million people registered to vote in this year's presidential election.

A total of twelve candidates are running.

The polling stations in France are open until 7 p.m., in some places even until 8 p.m.

A low turnout was feared.

Polls recently assumed that up to 30 percent could stay away from the election.

Shortly before the election, three out of ten French did not know who they were going to vote for.

Ties to a party have also waned, and there are fewer regular voters than before.

Right-wing populist presidential candidate: Marine Le Pen. © IMAGO / PanoramiC

Update from April 10, 5:15 p.m .:

Who will be President of France?

According to a recent survey by the Ipsos Institute, the liberal incumbent Emmanuel Macron received 26% of the votes, and the right-wing populist Marine Le Pen 23%. The left-populist Jean-Luc Mélenchon still managed to get 16%.

France election 2022: Twelve candidates compete in the first ballot

Update from April 10, 4:45 p.m .:

Twelve candidates will compete in the 2022 presidential election in France, from left-wing populist to liberal to right-wing extremists.

According to the polls, however, only the liberal incumbent Emmanuel Macron and the right-wing populist Marine Le Pen are considered to have any real chances.

• The candidates in the French election 2022:

• Emmanuel Macron (liberal)

• Marine Le Pen (right-wing populist)

• Jean-Luc Mélenchon (left-wing populist)

• Nicolas Dupont-Aignan (National Conservative)

• Jean Lassalle (critical of capitalism)

• Philippe Poutou (anti-capitalist)

• Nathalie Arthaud (Trotskyist)

• Anne Hidalgo (Social Democrat)

• Yannick Jadot (green) 

• Valérie Pécresse (Conservative)

• Fabien Roussel (Communist)

• Eric Zemmour (far right)

France election 2022: Runoff election on April 24th - who will advance?

Update from April 10, 4:25 p.m .:

After the election, there is an election in France: As soon as the two presidential candidates who will be in the runoff on April 24 are known on Sunday evening, the election campaign will enter the second round.

What happens before the runoff?

The two favorites, President Emmanuel Macron and right-wing populist Marine Le Pen, know the situation: they faced each other in the 2017 runoff.

It is eagerly awaited which voting recommendations the defeated candidates will make after the first ballot.

Traditionally, there is a TV duel between the two candidates, probably on Wednesday, April 20th.

Le Pen also wants to make a campaign appearance in Avignon before the run-off - she announced this before the first round of the election, confident of victory.

The election will then take place on Sunday, April 24th, which is during the spring break.

France election 2022: protests in Corsica - banner at election office

Update from April 10, 3:45 p.m .:

Corsican activists placed an anti-French banner in front of the central election office for the French presidential election in the island city of Bastia.

As the regional broadcaster France 3 Corse reported on Sunday, the protest tape read "French State Murderer".

Next to it was a photo of the recently killed Corsican nationalist Yvan Colonna.

The 61-year-old Colonna was attacked by a fellow prisoner in Arles, southern France, at the beginning of March and was critically injured.

He was then in a coma and died a few weeks later.

Colonna was serving a life sentence for the 1998 murder of the prefect of Corsica.

The attack on Colonna had led to numerous protests in Corsica, some of which turned out to be brutal.

Apparently low voter turnout: the 2022 presidential election in France.

(symbol photo) © IMAGO / NurPhoto

France election 2022: Low voter turnout is emerging

Update from April 10, 1:51 p.m.:

By 12 noon on Sunday, 25.48 percent of the 48.7 million registered voters had voted in the 2022 France election.

Voter turnout was expected to be rather low in advance.

It was actually slightly below the comparative value of 28.54 percent at midday on election Sunday in 2017 - but also above the low of 21.39 percent in the worst turnout to date in the first round of the 2002 presidential election. Macron, Le Pen and the other ten Candidates cast their votes until noon.

Due to the time difference, some French overseas territories, such as the Caribbean, voted on Saturday.

In the rest of France, polling stations close at

France election 2022: Presidential candidates Le Pen and Macron at the ballot box

Update from April 10, 12:37 p.m .:

Many of the twelve candidates for the presidential election in France have already cast their votes.

Socialist candidate Anne Hidalgo was the first to be seen at the ballot box around 9am in Paris.

The right-wing populist candidate Eric Zemmour from the Reconquête party voted in his hometown of Paris.

The communist Fabien Roussel cast his ballot in the north of the country.

Jean-Luc Mélenchon from La France insoumise cast his vote in Marseille.

Right-wing populist Marine Le Pen is considered a favorite for the presidency alongside incumbent Emmanuel Macron.

She cast her vote on Sunday in Henin-Beaumont in northern France.

Incumbent Emmanuel Macron voted with his wife Brigitte at the polling station in Le Touquet in the north of the country.

French President Emmanuel Macron arrives with his wife Brigitte Macron at a polling station in Le Touquet, northern France, on Sunday (10 April).

© Ludovic MARIN / AFP

France election 2022: polling stations open - the first round of the presidential election begins

Update from April 10, 8:53 a.m .:

The first round of the 2022 presidential election began in France on Sunday.

Around 48.7 million voters had registered to cast their vote.

The current head of state Emmanuel Macron hopes for a second term.

The right-wing Marine Le Pen is his biggest competitor. The left-wing Jean-Luc Mélenchon is also hoping for a place in the run-off election on April 24.

A total of twelve candidates are running.

Polling stations are open until 7 p.m. in France and 8 p.m. in some places.

Because of the time difference, some French overseas territories, such as the Caribbean, voted on Saturday.

A low turnout in the elections in France is feared.

Polls recently assumed that up to 30 percent could stay away from the election.

Just before the election, three out of ten French people didn't know who they were going to vote for.

Ties to a party have also waned, and there are fewer regular voters than before.

France election 2022: purchasing power as the most important issue in the election campaign

The French election campaign got off to a slow start and was overshadowed by the war in Ukraine*.

Hardly any topics caught on, many applicants were perceived as weak.

Emmanuel Macron's diplomatic efforts in the Ukraine conflict gave him a boost in the polls.

However, his percentage crumbled as the war went on and the economic consequences became noticeable.

His greatest strengths right now are likely to be the weaknesses of most opponents and the promise of stability.

He also has clear successes on the labor market and a robust take-off of the French economy after the Corona crisis.

Meanwhile, 53-year-old longtime Rassemblement National politician Le Pen had been trying to adopt a more moderate stance well before the election, driving the "demonization" of the party founded by her father and long viewed as far-right.

Her goal was to be eligible for shifts in the middle as well.

The extreme right-wing political newcomer Éric Zemmour played into her hands, initially outperforming her in the polls.

While Zemmour was unsettling with his increasingly radical demeanor, Le Pen became the extremist's choice of alternative.

And while he continued to talk about migration, Le Pen instinctively switched to the urgent issue of purchasing power during the crisis - a hit.

Last polls of the 2022 French election: incumbent Emmanuel Macron and right-wing populist Marine Le Pen in front

First report from April 9, 2022:

Paris – There is already political radio silence in France.

One day before the first round of the presidential election on Sunday (April 10), campaign appearances, interviews and surveys were prohibited.

According to the latest polls, incumbent Emmanuel Macron and right-wing populist Marine Le Pen are ahead.

Pollsters expect the result to be significantly tighter than in the previous election, in which the two also made it to the runoff.

It is scheduled to take place on April 24 this year.

France elections on April 10, 2022: Unusual election campaign ended

The eight male and four female candidates had an unusual election campaign behind them, which was initially overshadowed by the corona pandemic and then by the Ukraine war.

Macron, who also attracted attention with pithy sayings during his tenure *, announced his candidacy very late and only completed one major campaign appearance *.

He also declined to face the other candidates in a debate.

Le Pen had shown itself to be more moderate compared to 2017, although she represents the same positions in her program.

The right-wing populist had unexpected competition from the right-wing extremist publicist Eric Zemmour, who deducted her votes.

These could fall back to her in the runoff.

Le Pen was confident of victory in the election campaign.

The two candidates from the former right and left mainstream parties, Valérie Pécresse and Anne Hidalgo, could each get the worst result in the party's history.

According to opinion pollsters, the proportion of voters who remained undecided up to the last minute is unusually high.

France election 2022: Not only Marine Le Pen is challenging incumbent Emmanuel Macron.

© Daniel Karmann/dpa

France election 2022: Political radio silence until Sunday, 8 p.m

Acht Meinungsforschungsinstitute haben sich verpflichtet, am Sonntag keine Nachwahlbefragungen zu machen. Die politische Funkstille ist bis zur Schließung der letzten Wahllokale um 20 Uhr vorgeschrieben. Die Wahllokale öffnen am Sonntag um 8 Uhr und schließen in weiten Landesteilen um 19 Uhr – doch in mehreren Großstädten kann bis 20 Uhr gewählt werden. Wegen der Zeitverschiebung begann die Wahl in einigen Überseegebieten bereits am Samstag.

Frankreich-Wahl 2022: Auch Deutschland blickt mit Spannung ins Nachbarland

The French President has wide-ranging powers and serves for five years.

He is more powerful than the prime minister appointed by him and has a significant influence on the fate of the country.

So there are some differences in the France election to elections in Germany.

But the outcome of the election is also of considerable interest for Berlin and Europe: The liberal Macron is seen as a much simpler and more reliable partner than Le Pen or Mélenchon, with whom close cooperation is difficult to imagine because of their sometimes radical positions.

You can read more about the results and projections here*.