First batch of polling stations close in French presidential runoff

The first batch of polling stations on France's European mainland closed at 19:00 local time (1700 GMT) in Sunday's runoff of the presidential election.

Those closed at this hour are the ones located outside big cities. Those in big cities like Paris, Lyon, Marseille and Strasbourg will open for one hour longer till 20:00.

More than 66,000 polling stations in the French European mainland opened at 08:00 local time (0600 GMT) for the decisive vote.

There are nearly 47 million eligible voters across France but the turnout this year might be lower than the 2012 election, according to pollsters' estimates.

An estimation by research firm Elabe for BFMTV indicates a final turnout of 74 percent, a figure smaller than the 80.35 percent in the 2012 runoff vote.

According to another estimation by Ipsos/Sopra Steria for French media, the final abstention rate for the second round is expected to be 26 percent, highest since 1969.

The turnout at 17:00 local time (1500 GMT) in the runoff was 65.30 percent, also lower than the figure in 2012, which stood at 71.96 percent, the French interior ministry said.

The French election law bans the publication of any early poll or counting results of the vote before all polling stations are closed.

Preliminary projections of the voting results are expected to be revealed by various sources after 20:00 (1800 GMT) when all polling stations are closed.

The presidential race is between centrist candidate Emmanuel Macron and far-rightist Marine Le Pen.

Opinion polls before the vote estimated that the former minister of economy Macron would defeat his far-right rival by at least 20 points. Endit