PARIS (AP) – A whirlwind guide to the logistics of the winner-takes-all final round of voting Sunday that will elect France’s new president:
THE RUNOFF ELECTION: Just two candidates: Emmanuel Macron, 39, a pro-business, pro-European Union centrist; Marine Le Pen, 48, an anti-EU “French-first” far-right nationalist.
They qualified for the presidential runoff as the top two vote-winners from a field of 11 candidates in the first-round ballot on April 23. On Sunday, they start afresh, with only their votes in the second round counted. The winner is elected to a five-year term.
VOTERS: 47 million people are eligible.
POLLING: About 70,000 polling stations around France open at 8 a.m. (0600 GMT) Sunday, for a maximum of 12 hours. Voting in French overseas territories starts Saturday.
RESULTS: Partial results and polling agency projections expected from 8 p.m. (1800 GMT) Sunday.
WHAT’S NEXT: To govern effectively, the president will need a parliamentary majority to pass his or her proposed laws. All 577 seats in the French National Assembly are up for grabs in next month’s legislative elections, also held over two rounds, on June 11 and 18.
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