The people in France are at the ballot box for the second round of general elections! Measures to prevent looting have been taken in the capital.

The second round of early general elections, led by the far-right National Rally (RN) Party, is ongoing in France. French voters will determine the 501 members of the National Assembly who will represent them.

The voting process, which started at 08:00 local time in mainland France, will end at 18:00. In big cities like Paris and Marseille, voting will continue until 20:00. Prior to the election, it was observed that the shop windows on the busy streets of Paris were covered with wooden boards. This practice, which was reported to be done to prevent possible negative incidents, protected many stores from looting.

76 MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT WERE ELECTED IN THE FIRST ROUND

In a country with a population of approximately 68.4 million, 49.5 million French voters are going to the polls to determine the 501 members of the National Assembly who will represent them for 5 years. The other 76 members of parliament were elected in the first round. In the second round of voting in the election, the candidates who receive the most votes are elected as members of parliament. For a party or alliance to obtain an absolute majority in the 577-seat National Assembly, it must have 289 members of parliament.

3 ALLIANCES STAND OUT IN THE ELECTION

In the election race, the National Rally (RN) party, which formed an alliance with the leader of the center-right Republicans (LR) Party, Eric Ciotti, and some LR candidates, stands out, as well as the People's Front Alliance, formed by left-wing and environmentalist parties concerned about the victory of the far-right, and the "Together for the Republic" Alliance, formed by President Emmanuel Macron's party Renaissance, and its coalition partners Democracy Movement (MoDem) and Horizons.

Research companies are expected to start giving estimated results of the election after the polls close, and the official results will be announced later by the Ministry of the Interior. According to official data, the number of French citizens living abroad who voted online for the second round is recorded as 460,000. In addition, voting in overseas territories of the country such as Guadeloupe, Guyana, and Martinique was held yesterday.

PARLIAMENT WILL OPEN ITS DOORS TO NEW MEMBERS TOMORROW

Parliament will open its doors at 14:00 local time tomorrow to welcome new members of parliament. The 577 new members of the National Assembly will convene for the first plenary session on July 18 and will start voting for the new parliamentary speakers from 15:00 local time onwards.

The new members of parliament will need to form their groups in the Assembly before 18:00 local time on the same day. To form a political group in the French Parliament, at least 15 members of parliament must come together and elect their group leaders.

FRANCE'S EARLY ELECTIONS

The far-right RN, which has continued to increase its votes in the last 3 elections in France, doubled President Emmanuel Macron's party Renaissance by receiving 31.4% of the votes in the European Parliament (EP) elections on June 9.

"WE HAD TO RESPOND DEMOCRATICALLY TO THE ELECTION RESULTS"

Following the victory of the far-right in the EP elections, Macron dissolved the National Assembly on the night of June 9 and decided to hold early elections from June 30 to July 7. Macron defended his decision by saying, "We had to respond democratically to the EP election results." However, the fact that the country will hold early elections just before the 2024 Paris Olympics, which will take place between July 26 and August 11, has been met with concern in the public due to the potential political instability and social unrest it may cause.

In the last general elections in the country, left-wing parties, who could not form an alliance, quickly came together under the "New People's Front Alliance" and announced that they would nominate a single candidate. The New People's Front Alliance includes the Socialist Party (PS), Unbowed France (LFI), the French Communist Party (PCF), and the Green Party (EELV). The far-right RN formed an alliance with Eric Ciotti, the leader of the center-right Republicans (LR) Party, while the ruling party Renaissance and its coalition partners MoDem and Horizons formed the "Together for the Republic" Alliance.

MACRON'S ALLIANCE RANKED THIRD IN THE FIRST ROUND

In the first round of the election, the far-right alliance came first with around 33% of the votes, the New People's Front Alliance came second with 28%, and Macron's "Together for the Republic" alliance ranked third with 20% of the votes. In the first round of the election, 76 members of parliament were elected, with 39 from the far-right, 32 from the left-wing alliance, 2 from Macron's alliance, and the remaining 3 from the center-right Republicans and other right-wing parties.