Overview
- Participation reached 20.33% at noon, slightly above the first-round pace at the same hour, according to the Interior Ministry.
- Polling stations opened at 08:00 and mostly close at 18:00, with later closures to 19:00 or 20:00 in major cities and first national estimates expected from 20:00.
- Roughly 16 million voters are called in contests dominated by 551 duels, 821 triangulaires, 171 quadrangulaires and 17 quinquangulaires after a week of fusions and withdrawals.
- High-stakes battles include Paris (Rachida Dati vs Emmanuel Grégoire with Sophia Chikirou maintained), Marseille (Benoît Payan vs RN’s Franck Allisio after an LFI withdrawal), Lyon (Grégory Doucet vs Jean‑Michel Aulas), Bordeaux (Pierre Hurmic vs Thomas Cazenave), Toulouse (Jean‑Luc Moudenc vs François Piquemal) and Nice (Éric Ciotti vs Christian Estrosi).
- This cycle features the end of panachage in communes under 1,000 inhabitants and PLM reforms in Paris, Lyon and Marseille introducing two ballots and a smaller majority bonus; locally, measures such as Castelsarrasin’s free Tulipe shuttle and strict ID rules aim to ease access and ensure compliance.