France is heading into a crucial election that could see either a historic far-right victory or a divided parliament.

A crucial runoff election began in mainland France on Sunday, with Marine Le Pen likely to win a historic victory. Far-right national rally And either reverse that inward-looking, anti-immigrant vision or create a hanging Congress and political gridlock.

French President Emmanuel Macron has taken a big gamble by dissolving Parliament and calling general elections after his centrist party suffered a crushing defeat in the June 9 European Parliament elections.

The sudden election in this nuclear-armed country Ukraine Warinternational diplomacy and Europe’s economic stability, and is almost certain to undermine President Emmanuel Macron’s remaining three years in office.

In the first round of voting on June 30, the anti-immigration, nationalist Rally National party led by Marine Le Pen won the largest number of votes in history.

More than 49 million people are registered to vote in the election, which will determine which parties control France’s powerful 577-seat National Assembly, the lower house of parliament, and who will become prime minister. If support for Mr Macron’s weak centrist majority falls further, he could be forced to share power with parties that oppose many of his pro-business, pro-European Union policies.

Voters at the polls in Paris were keenly aware of the far-reaching implications, not just within France but abroad.

“Individual freedom, tolerance and respect for others is what’s on the line right now,” said Thomas Bertrand, a 45-year-old voter who works in advertising.

Racism and anti-Semitism Along with Russian cyber attacks that have tarnished the campaign, more than 50 candidates have been reported as having come under physical attack – highly unusual in France – and the government plans to deploy 30,000 police on election day.

The tensions come as France celebrates a special summer. In Paris, the highly ambitious Olympic GamesThe national soccer team is in the semi-finals of the Euro 2024 Championships and the Tour de France is touring the country with the Olympic torch.

According to the French Interior Ministry, turnout was 26.63% as of noon local time, slightly higher than the 25.90% reported at the same time in last Sunday’s first round.

The first round of voting, held last Sunday, saw turnout of around 67 percent, the highest since 1997, ending nearly three decades of deepening voter apathy towards legislative elections and, for an increasing number of French people, politics in general.

Prime Minister Gabriel Atal cast his vote in the Paris suburb of Vanves on Sunday morning.

Mr Macron is scheduled to vote late Sunday morning in the seaside town of La Touquet. Ms Le Pen will not vote because there is no runoff election in the northern French constituency where she won her seat last week. Across France, 76 other candidates won seats in the first round, including 39 from Mr Macron’s National Rally and 32 from his left-leaning New Popular Front coalition. Two of Mr Macron’s centrist candidates also won seats in the first round.

Elections will close at 8pm (1800 GMT) on Sunday in mainland France and Corsica. The first voting estimates are due to be published on Sunday evening, with official results expected to be published late Sunday or early Monday.

Voters in the Americas and the French overseas territories of Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon, Saint-Barthélemy, Saint-Martin, Guadeloupe, Martinique, Guyana and French Polynesia cast their ballots on Saturday.

If the Rally National wins an absolute majority in the election and its 28-year-old leader, Jordan Bardella, becomes prime minister, France will have its first far-right government since the Nazi occupation during World War II. The party came first in the first round of voting last week, followed by a coalition of center-left parties, far-left parties and the Greens, as well as Macron’s centrist bloc.

Pierre Leban, a 45-year-old business manager, worried about whether the elections would produce an effective government.

“That’s a concern for us,” Rubin said. “Will it be a technical government or will it be a coalition made up of (different) political forces?”

of The outcome remains highly uncertainOpinion polls taken between the two rounds of voting suggest the Rally National may win the most seats in the 577-seat National Assembly but fall short of the 289 needed for a majority. It would make history if a party long considered a pariah with historical ties to xenophobia and Holocaust downplaying becomes France’s largest political force.

If the party wins a majority, Macron would be forced to share power with a prime minister who deeply disagrees with the president’s domestic and foreign policies, an awkward arrangement known in France as “cohabitation.”

Another possibility is that no party will win a majority, leaving parliament in limbo, which could lead Macron to negotiate a coalition with a center-left coalition or to form a non-party technocratic government.

Whatever happens, Mr Macron’s centrist bloc will be forced to share power: Many of his candidates lost or withdrew in the first round, leaving him short of the majority he won when he was first elected president in 2017 or the most seats he could win in the 2022 parliamentary elections.

Both developments are unprecedented for modern France and will make it harder for the European Union’s second-largest economy to make bold decisions on arms sales to Ukraine, reforming labor laws or reducing a huge budget deficit.Financial markets have been reeling since Macron surprised even his closest allies in June by announcing early elections after his National Rally party won the most seats in the European Parliament elections.

Macron said he would not step down, whatever happened, and would stay on as president until the end of his term in 2027.

Many French voters, especially in smaller towns and rural areas, are frustrated with low incomes and a political leadership in Paris that they see as elitist and out of touch with the daily struggles of working people. The Rally National has built up broad and deep support over the past decade by connecting with these voters, in part by blaming immigration for France’s problems.

Le Pen has softened many of the party’s positions and no longer calls for withdrawal from NATO or the EU in order to make the party more electable, but the party’s core far-right values ​​remain intact: it calls for a referendum on citizenship by mere birth in France, for restricting the rights of dual nationals and for police to be given greater freedom to use force.

With the outcome of a key election hanging in the balance, Valérie Daudemann, a 55-year-old legal professional, said she was pessimistic about France’s future.

“No matter what happens, this election is going to leave people on all sides frustrated,” Daudeman said.