Emmanuel Macron is campaigning to be the first French president to win re-election in two decades, while a win for Marine Le Pen would see her become modern France's first far-right leader and first female president.
People in France are entering the final round of voting to determine who will be the country's next president. A win for either Marine Le Pen or Emmanuel Macron would set a new record.Voters in France are preparing to choose between centrist President Emmanuel Macron and far-right challenger Marine Le Pen to rule the country for the next five years after a bitterly contested and polarising election campaign.
The stakes are huge. Ms Le Pen would become modern France's first far-right leader and first female president. Mr Macron would be the first French president to win re-election in two decades. But voters in French overseas territories that span the globe will start voting earlier, beginning with those in North America and the Caribbean on Saturday, followed by the Pacific and then the Indian Ocean.Saturday is marked by a campaign blackout, with no campaigning allowed and no more polls published.
Mr Macron for his part said Ms Le Pen was trying to mask an authoritarian "extreme right" platform that stigmatises Muslims with a plan to outlaw headscarves in public. Polls have shown Mr Macron with a lead of some 10 percentage points. The highly anticipated TV debate did not change the trend and, if anything, it allowed the president to open more of a gap.
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