Media Denied Access to Brussels' Polling Stations Amid French Presidential Vote

The representatives of media were banned from access to the polling stations opened in Belgium’s capital for the second round of the French presidential election without any comment on behalf of the Consulate of France, French media reported.

BRUSSELS (Sputnik) – The polling stations opened in France at 8 a.m. local time on Sunday. In the second round of the vote, two candidates face each other: independent Emmanuel Macron, the leader of "En Marche!" movement, who got 24 percent of the votes in the first round, and right-wing Marine Le Pen, who came second with 21 percent of the votes.

"Access to the polling stations in Brussels is banned for media. No explication by @ConsulFranceBel," the RTL radio station’s reporter Loic Parmentier posted on his Twitter account.

Accès interdit à la presse dans les bureaux de vote de #Bruxelles. Aucune explication du @ConsulFranceBel #RTLinfo #Presidentielles2017 pic.twitter.com/T5bYDz1YmO

— Loic Parmentier (@loparm) 7 мая 2017 г.

The French Interior Ministry said the turnout in the runoff is estimated at 28.23 percent as of noon. The first official results will be provided by the Interior Ministry at 8 p.m. local time (18:00 GMT).

The first round of the vote took place on April 23, with Macron gaining 24.01 percent of votes, and Le Pen coming second with 21.3 percent.