Emmanuel Macron hadn’t won anything beyond a shot at a runoff vote against Marine Le Pen, but his remarks to supporters and a subsequent private party Sunday night felt every bit like a victory lap. And the polls strongly suggest those celebrations, while perhaps a tad premature, will continue after France returns to the ballot box…</s>(PARIS) — France's political mainstream, shut out of the presidency by an angry electorate, united Monday to urge voters to back centrist Emmanuel Macron in the presidential runoff and to reject Marine Le Pen's populist nationalism.

Politicians on the moderate left and right, including French President Francois Hollande and the losing Socialist and Republicans party candidates in Sunday's first-round vote, maneuvered to block Le Pen's path to power in the May 7 runoff.

In a solemn address from the Elysee palace, Hollande said he will vote for Macron, his former economy minister, because the far-right Le Pen represents "both the danger of the isolation of France and of rupture with the European Union."

Hollande said the far-right would "deeply divide France" at a time when the terror threat requires "solidarity."

"Faced with such a risk, it is not possible to remain silent or to take refuge in indifference," he said.

European stock markets surged, and France's main index hit its highest level since early 2008, as investors gambled that the rise of populism around the world — and its associated unpredictability in policymaking — may have peaked.

Voters narrowed the French presidential field from 11 to two on Sunday. The contest is widely seen as a litmus test for the populist wave that last year prompted Britain to vote to leave the European Union and U.S. voters to elect Donald Trump president.

Only the defeated far-left candidate, Jean-Luc Melenchon, pointedly refused to back Macron.

Le Pen's far-right National Front party, meanwhile, is hoping to peel away voters historically opposed to a party long tainted by racism and anti-Semitism.

"The voters who voted for Mr. Melenchon are angry voters. They can be in agreement with us," National Front Vice President Steeve Brios told The Associated Press, adding that those far-left voters sought choices "outside the system."

Choosing from inside the system is no longer an option. Voters rejected the two mainstream parties that have alternated power for decades in favor of Le Pen and the untested Macron , who has never held elected office and who founded his own political movement just last year.

Macron's optimistic vision of a tolerant France and a united Europe with open borders is a stark contrast with Le Pen's darker, inward-looking "French-first" platform that calls for closed borders, tougher security, less immigration and dropping the shared euro currency to return to the French franc.

Le Pen went on the offensive against Macron in her first public comments Monday.

"He is a hysterical, radical 'Europeanist.' He is for total open borders. He says there is no such thing as French culture. There is not one domain that he shows one ounce of patriotism," she said.

Le Pen's father, Jean-Marie, made it into a presidential runoff against Jacques Chirac in 2002 and was crushed. Many commentators expect the same fate for his daughter, but she has already drawn far more support than he ever did and she has transformed the party's once-pariah image.

National Front vice president Louis Aliot insisted that Le Pen offers an alternative for anyone skeptical of the EU and France's role in it.

"I'm not convinced that the French are willing to sign a blank check to Mr. Macron," he said.

But Macron's party spokesman, Benjamin Griveaux, scoffed at the idea that Le Pen is a vector of change.

"She's been in the political system for 30 years. She inherited her father's party and we will undoubtedly have Le Pens running for the next 20 years, because after we had the father, we have the daughter and we will doubtless have the niece," he said, referring to Marion Marechal-Le Pen. "So she is in a truly bad position to be talking about the elites."

German Chancellor Angela Merkel wished Macron "all the best for the next two weeks."

Merkel's chief of staff, Peter Altmaier, tweeted that "the result for Emmanuel Macron shows: France AND Europe can win together! The center is stronger than the populists think!"

Macron came in first in Sunday's vote, with just over 23 percent while Le Pen had 21 percent. Francois Fillon, the scandal-plagued conservative Republicans candidate, came in third with just shy of 20 percent of the vote, just ahead of Melenchon. Socialist candidate Benoit Hamon, whose party holds a majority in the legislature, got just 6 percent of the vote.

Turnout for Sunday's vote was 78 percent, down slightly from 79 percent in the first round of presidential voting in 2012.

Protesters burned cars, danced around bonfires and dodged riot police overnight at the Place de la Bastille and Republique in Paris. Twenty-nine people were detained at the Bastille, where protesters waved red flags and sang "No Marine and No Macron!" in anger at the results.

"We are in a phase of decomposition, demolition, deconstruction," former Socialist Prime Minister Manuel Valls said. "We didn't do the work — intellectual, ideological and political — on what the left is, and we paid the price."</s>Historic moment for France: both traditional mainstream parties appear eliminated in 1st round #frenchelection #Macron 23.7% #LePen 21.7%— Catherine Nicholson (@ACatInParis) April 23, 2017

"Nationalism leads to war. I come from a part of France with too many World War cemeteries" @EmmanuelMacron to #LePen https://t.co/V9K7QzJFcy— MacronInEnglish (@MacronInEnglish) April 4, 2017</s>Marine Le Pen of the National Front almost certainly will not win the run-off election next month against Emmanuel Macron. Mr. Macron, of the centrist En Marche party, is headed to a coronation even though Ms. Le Pen came a close second in Sunday’s first-round presidential vote.

But that’s not to say she is finished, far from it. She will have earned record levels of support for the FN, which could do well in the National Assembly elections in June, allowing her and her party to emerge as the main opposition to Mr. Macron and his untested En Marche movement, which did not exist until a year ago. That means her messages will continue to shape debate none more so that her attack of “savage globalization.”</s>PARIS, April 23 (Reuters) - Centrist Emmanuel Macron and far-right leader Marine Le Pen are leading in the official count of votes from the first round of France's presidential election with 33.2 million tallied so far, figures from the Interior Ministry showed on Sunday.

The figures did not include results from most of France's major cities, where Le Pen's level of support tends to be low relative to smaller towns and villages where counts were complete.

With 33.2 million votes counted from France's 47 million strong electorate and pollster projections pointing to a turnout approaching 80 percent, the figures put Macron on 23.11 percent of votes and Le Pen on 23.08 percent, conservative Francois Fillon at 19.81 percent, and far-leftist Jean-Luc Melenchon on 18.62 percent. (Reporting by Sybille de la Hamaide and Emile Picy, Editing by Leigh Thomas)</s>PARIS >> Whatever the result of France’s presidential election, the choice will resonate far beyond France’s borders, from Syrian battlefields to Hong Kong trading floors and the halls of the U.N. Security Council.

The future of Europe is at stake as this country chooses a president in an election unlike any other, one that may reshape France’s post-war identity and indicate whether global populism is ascendant or on the decline.

As untested centrist Emmanuel Macron and nationalist Marine Le Pen head into a May 7 runoff after dominating Sunday’s first-round vote, here are a few reasons why this race matters:

Le Pen hopes to pull France out of the European Union and its shared euro currency — a blow that would be far worse than Britain’s exit and could spell death for the EU, the euro and the whole idea of European unity borne from the blood of World War II. France is a founding member of the EU, and its main driver along with former rival Germany.

Most of the 11 candidates in the first round campaigned against the EU, blamed for myriad economic and security woes, and Le Pen will carry their banner proudly into the runoff.

Financial markets expressed relief at Macron’s lead in the first round, but they’ve been jittery over a possible Frexit, fearing controls on money transfers, capital flight, a plague of defaults and lawsuits on bonds and contracts. Le Pen’s team downplays apocalyptic scenarios, arguing that the euro is headed for a breakup eventually anyway.

Le Pen also blames free trade pacts for killing French jobs and wants to renegotiate them, which would cause a financial tangle for the rest of the EU and France’s trade partners.

If Le Pen wins, that would be a resounding victory for the populist wave reflected by the votes for President Donald Trump and Brexit. Many French workers who have lost out because of globalization are similarly fed up with establishment parties and especially attracted by promises of ditching the status quo.

Polls currently suggest Le Pen will have a difficult time convincing enough voters to join her in the second round. But she could pull in support from supporters of far left Jean-Luc Melenchon who share her anger at the global financial system and the global elite.

Macron called for hope in Europe in his victory speech, and mainstream conservative and Socialist parties that threw their weight behind him are committed to European unity. Macron has framed himself as a bulwark against Trump’s protectionism.

A nuclear power with a seat on the U.N. Security Council and tens of thousands of troops around the world, France is a key U.S. ally in the campaign against the Islamic State group and a major diplomatic player.

If elected, Macron would likely keep up the French operations against extremists in Iraq and Syria and Africa’s Sahel region — and keep up pressure on Russia over Ukraine and its actions to bolster Syrian President Bashar Assad.

Le Pen, on the other hand, firmly backs Assad and distanced herself from Trump over recent U.S. airstrikes targeting Assad’s regime.

Le Pen also met recently with Russian President Vladimir Putin and would push for lifting sanctions against Moscow over the conflict in Ukraine.</s>Polls are open across France in an election that is one of the closest watched in decades, with 11 candidates, ranging from the extreme right to the extreme left, vying for the French presidency.

Tight security is in place after a terrorist attack in Paris just days before the poll in which nationalist, anti-Islamist candidate Marine Le Pen is a front-runner.

About 50,000 police officers backed by 7,000 soldiers, including special forces, were deployed to the streets for security following the attack claimed by the Islamist State terrorist group. The shooting Thursday along the iconic Champs-Elysees in the heart of Paris left one police officer dead and several other people injured.

Leading in pre-election polls has been Emmanuel Macron, a center-left former Economy Minister who is pro-Europe and pro-business with close ties to unpopular Socialist President Francois Hollande. His appeal lies mainly in France’s prosperous urban areas where globalism has benefited many.

A close second has been Le Pen, who wants to end most immigration to France, especially from Muslim countries. She also wants France to leave the European Union. Her strongholds are largely in formerly industrial areas of France where unemployment is high and so is disillusionment with the modern economic and social order.

Another top contender is Francois Fillon, who favors cuts in public spending and pushing for deep reforms in the EU.

Analysts and voters interviewed see this as the most unpredictable election since World War II. In the last few weeks before the vote, far-left candidate Jean-Luc Melenchon surged in the polls and so did discussion of the previously obscure candidate in social media.

Among the ways his campaign lured young voters was through the release of a video game in which a player pretending to be Melenchon walks the streets and takes money from men in suits. The player is shown in a battle against the rich and powerful.

Anger at the establishment is the sentiment driving voters in an election in which security, France’s lagging economy, its 10-percent unemployment rate, and Islamist extremism are issues on the minds of those on the left and on the right.

That, say analysts, is what is driving large numbers of people, including some of the middle- and upper-class residents of Paris, to vote for candidates of the extreme, like Le Pen and Melenchon.

“Some of them for the thrill of it. It’s the principle, you know. Like playing Russian roulette, but politically. Some others it would be because they despise the elite of this country,” said Thomas Guénolé, a political analyst in Paris, told VOA.

The top two winners of Sunday’s poll will face off in a runoff election May 7.</s>PARIS (AP) — The Latest on the first round of France’s presidential election (all times local):

French centrist candidate Emmanuel Macron and far-right leader Marine Le Pen are advancing to the presidential runoff, after major opponents conceded defeat.

For the first time in modern French history, no mainstream party candidate is advancing, upending the country’s political system.

Voters will choose May 7 between Macron, a former investment banker and ex-economy minister, and Le Pen, who has tried to scrub her National Front party of its history of racism and anti-Semitism.

France’s prime minister has called on voters to support centrist candidate Emmanuel Macron against far-right rival Marine Le Pen in the country’s presidential election.

Prime Minister Bernard Cazeneuve has called for the defeat of Le Pen’s National Front party, in comments just after polling agencies projected the two advancing to the May 7 presidential runoff.

The announcement came moments after the Socialist candidate Benoit Hamon conceded defeat. If the results hold, it would be the first time in modern French history that no major-party candidate has advanced to the presidential runoff.

Supporters of French far-right presidential candidate Marine Le Pen and centrist Emmanuel Macron went wild with cheers as polling agency projections suggested they could advance to the presidential runoff.

“We will win!” Le Pen supporters chanted in her election day headquarters in Henin-Beaumont. They burst into a rendition of the French national anthem, and waved French flags and blue flags with “Marine President” inscribed on them.

Macron supporter Mathilde Julien said that “he represents France’s future, a future within Europe.”

Silence and disappointed sighs rose up instead at the headquarters of conservative Francois Fillon in Paris as projections appeared on TV screens suggesting he is in third place and wouldn’t make it into the runoff.

French Socialist candidate Benoit Hamon has conceded defeat in the first-round presidential vote.

Polling agency projections showed Hamon a distant fifth place after five years of a deeply unpopular Socialist government.

Hamon said as he acknowledged losing the race that “the left is not dead.”

Projections show that far-right leader Marine Le Pen and centrist Emmanuel Macron leading in the first round. If their leads hold, it would be the first time in modern French history that no major-party candidate has advanced. Hamon called on voters to back Macron in the May 7 runoff.

Polling agency projections show far-right leader Marine Le Pen and centrist Emmanuel Macron leading in the first-round French presidential election.

The results could set up a duel between a young candidate with no electoral experience and the woman who remade the image of a party tainted by racism and anti-Semitism.

The race is seen as a litmus test for the spread of populism and could help determine Europe’s future. With most polls just closed, it remained too early to say who advances to the May 7 runoff. Close behind were far-left contender Jean-Luc Melenchon and conservative Francois Fillon.

The projections are based on vote counts in select constituencies, then extrapolated nationwide. If Le Pen and Macron’s leads hold, it would be the first time in modern French history that no major-party candidate has advanced.

Presidential voting in France’s Caribbean territories seems to have lagged behind that on the mainland.

Official figures show that only about 35 percent of the 311,000 eligible voters on the French island of Martinique had voted by 5 p.m. local time Saturday, two hours before polls closed. Final figures were being released with Sunday’s results.

The percentage was even lower elsewhere: Just 34 percent in Guadeloupe and 20 percent in Saint-Martin.

In Martinique, Fort-de-France Mayor Didier Laguerre tells the Martinique 1ere radio station that most voters are probably waiting for a runoff.

Voter turnout in France’s close presidential election is above 69 percent in late afternoon, almost as high as the last presidential vote.

The Interior Ministry announced Sunday that the turnout had reached 69.4 percent, compared to 70.6 percent in the first round of presidential voting in 2012.

After years of economic stagnation and high unemployment, voter disillusionment is exceptionally high this year, prompting expectations of lower-than-usual turnout

Polls have suggested that far-right candidate Marine Le Pen’s voters were especially motivated to cast ballots while supporters of other candidates were less convinced.

Sunny weather in much of France may have played a role. Some pollsters also said an attack on police Thursday may have prodded voters into taking part in the election.

Thousands of people are rallying in Berlin to show their support for the idea of a united Europe and for a pro-European outcome for France’s presidential election.

The weekly demonstrations organized by a grassroots group in Germany and other European countries calling itself Pulse of Europe began at the end of 2016 to counter growing nationalist sentiment and opposition to the European Union.

On Sunday, thousands showed up at the German capital’s Gendarmenmarkt square. They waved the star-spangled blue flags of Europe, held up signs like “Berlin loves France” and sang Europe’s “Ode to Joy” anthem.

Even though the northern French town of Henin-Beaumont is presidential candidate Marine Le Pen’s bastion, that’s no guarantee of votes for the far-right contender.

Voters trickled in Sunday in a steady stream to polling station No. 12, an elementary school where Le-Pen had voted earlier in the day in the first round of France’s presidential election.

Valerie Hosaert, a 48-year-old insurance company worker, says “there are 11 candidates and not one that pleases me … so I’m voting for the least bad.”

Charlotte Villette, 25, added “we don’t have much choice. They’re all losers.”

Yvette Tifou, 67, a retired math teacher, said her choice was “relatively simple” since she is a long-time leftist. She also said Sunday’s presidential vote is more important than past presidential votes in France.

In Montreal, thousands of French citizens have waited in lines that snaked at one point to eight blocks long to cast their votes in France’s presidential election.

Polls opened Saturday morning in Canada’s main French speaking city, home to Quebec’s highest population of French nationals. French citizens lined up to vote at Montreal’s only polling station at Stanislas College in Outremont.

The vote in mainland France is happening Sunday, but polling stations in France’s far-flung overseas territories and in embassies around the world opened on Saturday to allow enough time to collate the vote results altogether.

Outgoing French President Francois Hollande has said the best message of this election would be “to show democracy is stronger than anything” by going out to vote.

Hollande, who is not standing for re-election, oversaw tight security measures for Sunday’s first round poll to help prevent disruption after Thursday’s deadly attack on the Champs-Elysees.

His government mobilized over 50,000 police and gendarmes to protect polling stations.

Voting in his political fiefdom of Tulle in Correze, southwestern France, Hollande said that “we are in such a time, and sadly it’s nothing new and not about to end now, when we must mobilize a lot of means.”

He called the measures a “guarantee to the French people this fundamental right of choosing their future.”

France’s Interior Ministry says the voter turnout so far in the first round of the presidential election is about the same as it was in 2012, when turnout was high.

At midday Sunday, the ministry said that 28.54 percent of eligible voters had cast their ballot, compared with 28.29 percent in 2012.

Commentators have said a low voter turnout would benefit far-right candidate Marine Le Pen, whose voters are seen to have more enthusiasm and are more certain to vote in a low turnout election than supporters of some other candidates.

A voting station in eastern France has reopened after being evacuated because of a suspicious vehicle parked nearby.

Interior Ministry spokesman Pierre-Henry Brandet told The Associated Press that the voting station in Besancon was evacuated while explosives experts examined the car, but they deemed there to be no risk.

He said no other incidents have been reported in Sunday’s first-round presidential election.

Tens of thousands of security forces are guarding voting stations across France after an attack in Paris on Thursday revived security concerns. France remains under a state of emergency after deadly Islamic extremist attacks in recent years.

The top two winners on Sunday will advance to a May 7 runoff.

Topless demonstrators from the Femen activist group have caused a commotion as they staged a stunt against Marine Le Pen outside a polling station where the far-right presidential candidate was heading to vote.

Around six topless Femen activists were detained Sunday morning after jumping out of an SUV limo wearing masks of Le Pen and United States President Donald Trump.

Police and security forces quickly forced them into police vans, confiscating their signs.

Le Pen voted at the station shortly after without further disruption.

The election is taking place amid heightened security. The government has mobilized more than 50,000 police and gendarmes to protect polling stations.

Centrist presidential candidate Emmanuel Macron, one of the front-runners in France’s unpredictable election, has voted in the coastal town of Le Touquet in northern France alongside his wife Brigitte Macron.

The former Socialist economy minister and former banker was relaxed and posed for selfies with voters.

Macron, 39, traveled to Le Touquet this weekend where he has a holiday home for time off the campaign trail.

Other candidates also cast their ballot Sunday morning, including Socialist Benoit Hamon and far-leftist Philippe Poutou.

A total of 11 contenders are vying to advance to the presidential runoff on May 7.

President Francois Hollande has cast his vote in the first round of the French election in his political fiefdom of Tulle in Correze, southwestern France.

The incumbent Socialist president made the unusual move last year of pledging to not stand for re-election.

The Socialist candidate is 49-year-old Benoit Hamon, who is not among the presidential front runners.

Hollande was the most unpopular French leader in the country’s modern history.

The wife of conservative presidential candidate and former French Prime Minister Francois Fillon has cast her ballot near their country home — conspicuously not alongside her husband, due to vote miles away in Paris.

Presidential candidates usually vote together with their spouses.

Welsh-born Penelope Fillon, 61, was handed preliminary charges for her role in a fake jobs scandal — dubbed “Penelopegate” — that had threatened to derail her husband’s campaign.

She voted in the department of Sarthe, some 250 kilometers (155 miles) away from the French capital, where she lives with her husband in a 14th-century manor.

Candidates in France’s presidential election have started to cast their votes.

Hardline right-winger Nicolas Dupont-Aignan, who rails against Europe, was the first of the 11 presidential candidates to vote Sunday morning in his constituency in the leafy Paris suburbs.

Far-left candidate Nathalie Arthaud cast her ballot soon after in the Paris suburb of Pantin.

In Paris, voters were lining up early at polling stations.

The vote “is really important, mainly because we really need a change in this country with all the difficulties we are facing and terrorism,” said Paris resident Alain Richaud.

“It’s definitely risky, but I have faith in the result even if an extreme candidate qualifies for the second round,” said Beatrice Schopflin.

French voters have begun casting ballots for the presidential election in a tense first-round poll that’s seen as a test for the spread of populism around the world.

Over 60,000 polling stations opened Sunday at 0600 GMT for some 47 million eligible voters, who will choose between 11 candidates. It’s the most unpredictable election in generations.

Polls suggest far-right nationalist Marine Le Pen and Emmanuel Macron, an independent centrist and former economy minister, were in the lead. But conservative Francois Fillon, a former prime minister, appeared to be closing the gap, as was far-left candidate Jean-Luc Melenchon.</s>Le Pen will face Emmanuel Macron in the May runoff.

France’s far right National Front sent shock waves through Europe tonight after leader Marine Le Pen made it into the second round of nation’s presidential elections, according to exit polls.

The hard-line anti-immigration candidate stormed into the final ballot to face centrist independent Emmanuel Macron.

Le Pen, 48 came second in the national poll behind Macron with 22 per cent of the vote in the tense election which saw 11 candidates vying for the role, according to Belgian broadcaster RTBF.

Tonight Le Pen and her supporters were celebrating in the northern town of Henin-Beaumont, 120 miles north of Paris.

The far right leader had security authorities on high alert, with rioting expected across the country in protest due to her election success.

More than 50,000 police and gendarmes were deployed to the 66,000 polling stations for Sunday’s election, which comes after Thursday’s deadly attack on the Champs-Elysees in which a police officer and a gunman were slain.

French intelligence have warned of there would be “public disturbances in the case of the presence of parties in the second round that are extremist,” according to Le Parisien newspaper.

Le Pen has vowed to offer French voters a referendum to leave the EU and wants to leave the Euro, known as Frexit.</s>Amid heightened security, French voters began casting ballots for their next president Sunday in a first-round poll that's seen as a litmus test for the spread of populism around the world and a vote on the future of Europe.

More than 50,000 police and gendarmes were deployed to the 66,000 polling stations for Sunday's election, which comes after Thursday's deadly attack on the Champs-Elysees in which a police officer and a gunman were slain. The presidential poll is the first ever to be held during a state of emergency, put in place since the Paris attacks of November 2015.

Voters are choosing between 11 candidates in the most unpredictable contest in decades.

The vote "is really important, mainly because we really need a change in this country with all the difficulties we are facing and terrorism," said Paris resident Alain Richaud, who was waiting to cast his vote.

Opinion polls point to a tight race among the four leading contenders vying to advance to the May 7 presidential runoff, when the top two candidates will go head to head.

Polls suggest far-right nationalist Marine Le Pen and Emmanuel Macron, an independent centrist and former economy minister, were in the lead. But conservative Francois Fillon, a former prime minister, who was embroiled in a scandal over alleged fake jobs appeared to be closing the gap, as was far-left candidate Jean-Luc Melenchon.

France's 10 percent unemployment, its lackluster economy and security were issues that top concerns for the 47 million eligible voters.

The election is widely seen as a vote on the future of the European Union — with most of the candidates railing against its institutions.

Both Le Pen and Melenchon — two candidates from opposite extremes of the political spectrum — could pull France out of the 28-nation bloc and its shared euro currency in a so-called "Frexit."

A French exit could spell the end of the EU.

If either candidate wins a spot in the runoff, it will be seen as a victory for the rising wave of populism reflected by the votes for Donald Trump in the U.S. and Brexit in Britain.

"It's definitely risky, but I have faith in the result even if an extreme candidate qualifies for the second round," said Beatrice Schopflin, who was queuing to vote in Paris.

Macron and Fillon are committed to European unity and would reform labor rules.

The candidates are voting throughout the day.

Meters from the polling station where Le Pen was heading to vote, several feminist activists from the Femen group were arrested after staging a topless protest against the far-right leader, who is the only major female contender in the race. Police intervened and stopped the commotion minutes before the 48-year-old arrived to cast her ballot in the northern town of Henin-Beaumont. No one was hurt.

Macron, meanwhile, was the image of serenity as he posed for selfies with voters after casting his ballot in the coastal town of Le Touquet in northern France alongside his wife, Brigitte Macron.

Fillon voted in Paris, but his wife — who's been handed preliminary charges for her role in the fake jobs scandal that rocked her husband's campaign — voted 250 kilometers (155 miles) away from him near their 14th century manor house in Sarthe.

This year's roller-coaster campaign has seen much controversy, but some voters appear to have become blasé or turned off from politics.

"There have been surprises, there have always been scandals," said Le Touquet resident Pierre-Antoine Guilluy.

Voter Marie-Christine Colrat said: "Listen, too many candidates. And candidates that caused us a lot of problems, I think that's not a good thing for France."

Unpopular incumbent President Francois Hollande, who pledged last year not to stand for re-election, voted in his political fiefdom of Tulle in Correze, southwestern France.

This year's Socialist party presidential candidate Benoit Hamon cast his ballot in Trappes, a Paris suburb. Melenchon also voted in Paris.

Political campaigning was banned from midnight Friday hours ahead of polls opening in France's far-flung overseas territories such as Guadeloupe, French Polynesia and French Guiana, which all voted a day early Saturday.

Associated Press writers Nadine Achoui-Lesage in Paris, Chris den Hond in Le Touquet and Alex Turnbull in Henin-Beaumont contributed to this report.
Voters in France go to the polls to elect a new president; Marine Le Pen and Emmanuel Macron qualify for the second round.