PARIS (Sputnik) — Macron, the ounder of En Marche! movement, was accompanied by his wife Brigitte at the polling station.
Earlier on Sunday, polling stations opened across France at 8 a.m. local time. The first results are expected at around 8 p.m. local time later in the day, when the polls close.
Benoît Hamon à Trappes, Philippe Poutou à Bordeaux et Emmanuel Macron au Touquet, ont voté. Le direct ➡️ https://t.co/aAzmrAYc4l pic.twitter.com/ObtgGQaBfl
— franceinfo (@franceinfo) 23 апреля 2017 г.
In order to cast a ballot in France a citizen must be over 18 years old, not legally banned from voting and registered on the electoral list.
The same rules are applied to presidential candidates. They must also show a sense of "moral dignity," which is a loose term without a clear legal definition. a presidential hopeful must also collect 500 signatures of support from elected representatives. Anyone who is able to fulfill this criteria becomes eligible to run for the first round. If nobody wins the first round with the absolute majority, the two highest scoring candidates face each other in a runoff.
