At a record-low turnout, the left-wing coalition came in ahead of the party alliance that supports the head of state, with Marine Le Pen's party finishing in third place.

In the first round of the French parliamentary elections on 12 June, voter turnout did not increase, on the contrary, it declined further. Figures released by the interior ministry at noon showed that turnout was 0.8 per cent lower at 12 am this year than five years ago, while turnout at 5 pm stood at 39.42 per cent, down by 1.3 per cent compared to 2017, when 40.75 per cent of voters cast their ballots one hour before polls closed.

🗳🇫🇷 #Élections2022 l Taux de participation á 17h pour le 1er tour des élections #législatives2022 en France métropolitaine : 39,42 % pic.twitter.com/lo9Vr5Jjb1

— Ministère de l’Intérieur 🇫🇷🇪🇺 (@Interieur_Gouv) June 12, 2022

According to data published at 5 pm, turnout was the highest, 52.37 per cent in Lot department and the lowest in Seine-Saint-Denis department, neighbouring Paris, with merely 27.72 per cent, well below the national average, France Info writes.

A study by the Ifop pollster projects that turnout could be historically low this year. While 51.5 per cent of voters did not cast their ballots in 2017, this figure could climb up to 53 per cent in the first round of the 2022 parliamentary elections.

🗳️🇫🇷 Elections #législatives2022 : 1er tour

Estimation publiée á 17H de la participation finale de 20H (France entière)

47% de participation
53% d’abstention@IfopOpinion @Fiducial pour @TF1 @LCI pic.twitter.com/vnuEbEc9aP

— Ifop Opinion (@IfopOpinion) June 12, 2022

Although polling stations in most towns closed at 6 pm, in large cities they stayed open until 8 pm, so no announcements were made before that time. It was known, however, that the majority of people living in the overseas territories voted for the governing party. Emmanuel Macron’s party collected most votes on the islands of New Caledonia and Wallis and Futuna, where seven candidates competed for the only available seat, and two leftist politicians advanced to the second round. Of the 8,480 registered on the island, 6,892 voters cast their ballots, resulting in a turnout of a staggering 81.27%, according to French daily Ouest France.

After the publication of the first results, the leftist coalition Nupes and the party alliance Ensemble (Together) finished neck-to-neck in the first round. It came as a major surprise, however, that Nupes, led by Jean-Luc Melenchon, collected 26.2 per cent of the votes, slightly more than Ensemble, supporting Macron, which won 25.8 per cent of the ballots.

🔴 Législatives 2022: la Nupes en tête du premier tour avec 26,20% des voix, devant Ensemble á 25,80% pic.twitter.com/njsXweHEBH

— BFMTV (@BFMTV) June 12, 2022

According to preliminary estimates by BFMTV, the third place was taken by Marine Le Pen’s National Rally party, which collected 19.1 per cent of the votes, followed by The Republicans at 11.1 per cent.