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French presidential turnout is at its lowest level in more than 50 years.
71.9 percent of voters voted in the election. More than one in four people voted at home. This is according to the final election results of the country’s interior ministry, according to the news agency Reuters.
The percentage of voters who turned up and put their crosses is the lowest proportion since the 1969 presidential election.
The turnout is also almost three percentage points lower than in the last presidential election in 2017, when it landed at 74.6 percent.
Pre-election polls had indicated that voter turnout would be the lowest in over 50 years.
Observers have pointed to several different reasons why many of the 48.7 million French people entitled to vote stayed at home.
For example, it is highlighted that there is an increasing lack of political commitment among French voters, which has been a trend over recent decades.
In addition, the presumption is that many voters have not been able to see themselves in the two candidates. That is why they abstained altogether.
The election was between French President Emmanuel Macron and Marine Le Pen of the far right. The final election result shows that Macron takes a convincing victory with 58.55 percent of the vote.
He is the first president in two decades to regain office.
However, his most recent victory over Le Pen in 2017 was somewhat larger, with a victory of 66.1 percent of the vote against 33.9 percent.
In his victory speech on Sunday evening, Macron acknowledged that many have voted for him to keep the right-wing leader and nationalist Le Pen out of the presidential office.
At the same time, he thanked those who had voted for him and promised that he would be in debt to them for years to come.
The re-elected president also said that the next five years”will not be just a continuation of the past five years”.
“From now on, I am no longer a candidate for a party. I’m president for everyone.«
/ ritzau/
