Voter turnout in France's first round of voting in the 2024 general elections stood at 59.39 percent by 5pm according to the interior ministry, around 20 percent higher compared to the same time in the 2022 elections.

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Voter turnout in France's first round of the 2024 general elections has reached 59.39 percent by 5pm, according to the interior ministry. This figure represents an increase of nearly 20 percent compared to the same time in the 2022 elections.

Polling stations in some cities are expected to close within an hour, while stations in major cities like Paris will remain open until later in the evening. Historically, overall turnout in French parliamentary elections has been under 50 percent, which underscores the significance of the current turnout.

The high voter participation may influence the election results. For a candidate to win in the first round, they need an absolute majority of votes cast, and the turnout must be at least 50 percent. Most races are expected to advance to a second round, where candidates need 12.5 percent of registered voters to qualify. The increased turnout could result in a higher number of candidates meeting this threshold, potentially leading to a record number of "triangular" races in the second round, which is a notable deviation from previous years.



Evening voter turnout in French elections at almost 60%

Absolutely there is, yes. So here the Interior Ministry has only just announced that at 5pm, that's nine hours into voting, turnout is at a whopping 59.39%. That is almost 20% higher than it was at the same point in the 2022 elections. Now some cities will have their polls closing in just an hour. Big cities like Paris, they will remain open until 8pm. But this is an enormous figure. It's worth bearing in mind that the last two elections, you saw the last two, sorry, parliamentary elections, total turnout throughout the day came in at under 50%. So this is a real coup in terms of proving that this is a really exceptional election and voters are particularly galvanised. Yeah, as you said, Antonia, it's a huge number. It looks like it's bigger as well than in 1997. And how is that higher turnout likely to impact these results? Well, what we need to bear in mind here is that the French legislative election process, the way the votes are counted, does take into account voter turnout. For a race to settle in one round, which some races will, it won't be the majority, a candidate has to get an absolute majority in terms of votes cast. But for that to count, there needs to have been a 50% turnout or more. Most races will go through to a second round. And what usually happens is there are only two horses in that race, if you will, because you need 12.5% not of votes cast, but of registered voters total in order to qualify for that second round. Higher turnout will push up those numbers. So more candidates meet that threshold. So we could have a record number of what are called triangulars. There were only eight in 2022 and one in 2017. So this is a really historic moment and could really change the shape of the campaign and the results.

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