French voters brace for decisive round of presidential election

French voters are preparing to return to the polling stations on Sunday to decide which of the two candidates will take the country's presidency for the next five years.
Unlike the neck-and-neck race in the first round of votes on April 23, the margin between centrist candidate Emmanuel Macron and far-rightist Marine Le Pen in the runoff vote is estimated to be quite large, according to opinion polls.
Various polls released on Friday, the last campaigning day, estimate that Macron will win with 61 to 62 percent of votes, while only 38 to 40 percent will go to Le Pen.
A Harris Interactive survey for French television network LCP indicates Macron will garner 62 percent, and Le Pen 38 percent. The same figures were given by an Odoxa-Dentsu Consulting poll for Le Point magazine and a Elabe survey for BFMTV and newspaper L'Express.
Meanwhile, an Ipsos-Sopra Steria poll for France Televisions and Radio France also estimates a clear victory for Macron with 61.5 percent of voting intentions, against Le Pen with 38.5 percent.
The almost unanimous estimations have put pressure on Le Pen and her far-right party National Front (FN).
Although the polls are consistent with those conducted right after the first round, the margin between the two has indeed further widened after a final television debate, which many analysts have dubbed as "aggressive" and "inappropriate."
Media reported that many viewers were disappointed by the performance of both candidates, but a poll conducted afterwards showed that 63 percent found Macron more convincing, while 34 percent supported Le Pen.
Even her farther Jean-Marie Le Pen, co-founder of FN, said that he was not satisfied with the performance of his daughter in the debate in a radio interview on Thursday.
Le Pen was greeted by a hail of eggs on Thursday at a factory in Dol-de-Bretagne, where she had received a high score in the first round, and was heckled by protesters as she visited the cathedral in Reims.
However, it is yet too early for Macron and his En Marche! (On the Move!) party to be at ease.
If the abstention rate on Sunday is high, then Macron's victory would come with a narrower margin, making it difficult for the centrist to establish his authority to govern, several pollsters have said.
One of the frontrunners in the first round, far-leftist Jean-Luc Melenchon refused to endorse either of the candidates, which could lead to not voting or casting a blank vote on Sunday among the 19.2 percent of voters who supported him.
Moreover, the refusal to endorse Macron by several representatives from the Republican party and right-wing activists also added to the risk of high abstention and blank vote rate.
A daily poll of FIFG indicates a possible decline in the turnout of the second round, with only 71 percent of voters, a decrease of seven points compared with the first round.
Ipsos-Sopra Steria also said in its survey published on Friday that 48 percent of those who plan to vote blank or void are certain to do so.
According to Le Pen's niece and fellow FN lawmaker Marion Marechal-Le Pen, even if her aunt loses, receiving 40 percent of the vote in the runoff would be already "an enormous victory."
"The objective is winning, and if not, 40 percent would position us particularly well to be the opposition or maybe even the majority in the National Assembly," the lawmaker said in a recent interview.
"The FN is now a party that, in the mind of French people, a party like the others," she added.
Regardless of the results of Sunday's vote, Le Pen has already made history for the far-right party by not only being qualified for the second round, but also breaking the record of FN in the presidential race with 7.5 million votes in the first round.
French President Francois Hollande, who has openly endorsed Macron, said on Friday that "there must be the highest score for Macron and therefore, the lowest for the far-right."
But that decision is in the hands of the French people on Sunday.
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source: Xinhua