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. 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."
Voters in France go to the polls to elect a new president; Marine Le Pen and Emmanuel Macron qualify for the second round.