Voter turnout in French presidential runoff at 63.23pc: Interior Ministry

Voter turnout in the second round of the French presidential election has reached 63.23 per cent as of 15.00 GMT, the French Interior Ministry said on Sunday.

Polls opened at 6.00 GMT on Sunday in France, where the final second round of presidential elections is taking place. Emmanuel Macron, the current president, and Marine Le Pen, the right-wing National Rally leader, are fighting for the right to lead the country for the next five years.

According to the ministry, this year's turnout as of 15.00 GMT was lower than in the last two presidential elections at the same time.

"In 2017, the turnout rate at 17:00 [15.00 GMT] for the second round of the presidential election in metropolitan France was 65.30 per cent. In 2012, this rate was 71.96 per cent at the same time," the ministry said.

Both presidential candidates have already cast their votes in the runoff.

The French president is elected for a five-year term directly by the country's citizens aged 18 and over, living in France and abroad. To become a candidate, one must be nominated by at least 500 elected officials. The election is held in two rounds. The first one took place on April 10. In the first round Macron received 27.84 per cent of the vote against Le Pen's 23.15 per cent. (ANI/Sputnik)

( With inputs from ANI )

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