France is voting today in the first round of their presidential election; there is always a runoff between the two candidates receiving the highest vote totals. The polls close there at 7-8 p.m.
Here in the PDT time zone we should start to see first round results around 1 p.m. as we're 7 hours later than they. It is anticipated that the two finalists will be President Macron who is running for reelection and Marine Le Pen who represents the French conservatives.
For most of the campaign, Macron was expected to win handily. The race has tightened considerably in the last few weeks, and at least some expect Le Pen to win. It has been argued the war in Ukraine has strengthened her hand, I'm unclear as to why that should be true.
For a description of the various candidates running and what they favor, see a National Public Radio article with details. A Marine Le Pen win following on the heels of the Viktor Orban landslide in Hungary would be something of a political earthquake for the EU. Stay tuned.
Later ... Apparently all we'll see today are exit polls which are indicative, but not definitive. As I write this at roughly 5:30 p.m. PDT, nothing has been announced.
