Highlights | French Elections: Left alliance projected to win most seats

A broad left-wing coalition in France is leading the legislative election, ahead of President Emmanuel Macron's centrists and the far right with no group winning an absolute majority, the news agency AFP reported on Sunday (July 7) citing projections.

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Voters in France turned out in large numbers on Sunday (July 7) for the second round of a historic election that is expected to leave the far right as the biggest force in a deeply divided parliament.

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Around 30,000 police personnel have been deployed across France during the elections due to security concerns.

A report by Al Jazeera said 5,000 of the officers are stationed in Paris and its surroundings.

French President Emmanuel Macron cast his ballot on Sunday in the country's legislative run-off election, in which the centrist leader is set to trail behind opposition rivals and lose majority of the National Assembly. 

Some 26.63 percent of voters had turned out for the second round of French legislative elections by midday on Sunday, up on the first round and the highest figure since 1981.

Leading French media outlets will release exit poll results once all polling stations close at 8pm local time (18:00 GMT).

The figures may vary slightly among the published projections, but preliminary official results should be available by Sunday and Monday.

Earlier today, Prime Minister Gabriel Attal, in an interview with French television, said that "Today the danger is a majority dominated by the extreme right and that would be catastrophic." 

Le Pen has said that her RN party would only try to form a government if its gets more than 270 seats, by winning over other parliamentarians. 

France’s left wing and centre banded together to form a coalition called Republican Front to try and block RN from amassing an absolute majority. They did so by withdrawing 200 of their candidates where there is a possibility of three-way races. 

As France on Sunday (July 7) holds its potentially 'seismic' snap legislative elections, far-right National Rally (RN) leader Jordan Bardella looks poised to become the prime minister. This significant feat at the young age of 28 depends on his party securing a majority, which, as per exit polls, is a huge possibility.

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The 2024 French elections are the most significant in years. This is the first time in years that the Anti-immigration National Rally (RN) of Marine Le Pen and Jordan Bardella has had a realistic chance of not only running the government, but also grabbing outright control of the National Assembly.

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French President Emmanuel Macron dissolved parliament and called for snap legislative elections after the far right trounced his centrist alliance in June 9 elections for the European Parliament.

The New Popular Front leftist alliance followed Le Pen's NR on second place with almost 28 per cent votes while Emmanuel Macron's ruling coalition came in third with 20 per cent votes.    

Marine Le Pen's far-right National Rally party led the elections at the end of the first round with 33 per cent of the vote, according to government figures. 

The final round of voting started at 08:00 (06:00 GMT) on Sunday and the first exit polls will be made public just 12 hours later. A party must win 289 seats in the 577-seat National Assembly for an outright majority.