PARIS (AP) – The conservative party of former President Nicolas Sarkozy is expected to dominate Sunday’s final round of France’s local elections, give the far-right National Front another electoral breakthrough and deal a new blow to the governing Socialists.
All parties hoped to lure voters who stayed away from the ballot box during last week’s first round. But turnout was slightly lower at 5 p.m. (1500 GMT, 11 a.m. EDT), three hours before polls closed, measured at 41.94 percent compared to 42.98 percent in the first round, the Interior Ministry said.
Voters casting ballots are choosing 4,108 local council members across the country who will make up 98 councils. Candidates appear on ballots in pairs – one man, one woman – to ensure that 50 percent of council members are women.
For France’s leading parties, the stakes are high.
Sarkozy and Socialist Prime Minister Manuel Valls have been working the campaign trail – catching up to the most visible campaigner, far-right leader Marine Le Pen. Her anti-immigration National Front placed second in last week’s first round with 25 percent of the vote, behind the conservatives.