The first round of French presidential elections ended when the polls closed at 8 p.m. 

According to the samples, President Emanuel Macron leads his rival from the far right by a small margin - as polls have predicted. 

The turnout was 65% - a decrease of 4.4% compared to 2017

French President Emmanuel Macron and far-right candidate Marin Le Pen will run in the second round of presidential elections on April 24. This, in light of preliminary samples of the results of the first round of the elections that took place tonight (Sunday), according to which none of the candidates won the required 50% - as expected.

According to a sample of the Belgian RTBF network, Macron leads on Le Pen by a small margin with 29.7% compared to 24.7%. According to a sample of the survey company Ipsos, Macron leads with 28.1% compared to Le Pen with 23.3%. The far-left candidate Jean-Luc Melenchon received 20% and is ranked third.