Around 59.71% of French voters had turned out for the second round of the country's parliamentary elections by 5 pm on Sunday, July 7, slightly more than for the first round (59.39%). Participation at midday had stood at 26.63%, the highest figure since 1981.

Interior ministry figures confirmed intense interest in the vote, which is expected to leave Marine Le Pen's far-right Rassemblement National (RN) as the largest party in parliament.

As voting began on Saturday in France's overseas departments and territories, provisional results for those areas have already been announced. Three such candidates were already elected in the first round: Estelle Youssouffa, incumbent right-wing independent MP (1^st constituency of Mayotte); Moerani Frebault, right-wing independent (1^st constituency of French Polynesia); and Mikaele Seo, incumbent MP from the presidential coalition (sole constituency of Wallis and Futuna.

In Guadeloupe, where turnout was 34.6%, all incumbent MPs were re-elected: In the 1st constituency, Olivier Serva, who was first elected in 2017 as a presidential party MP before joining the LIOT (Libertés, indépendants, outre-mer et territoires) opposition group in 2022, was re-elected with 77.59% of the vote. Christian Baptiste, a left-wing Nouveau Front populaire (NFP) alliance candidate, was re-elected in the 2^nd constituency, with 72.38% of the vote. In the 3^rd constituency, Max Mathiasin, first elected in 2017 as part of the presidential coalition before becoming affiliated with the LIOT group from 2022, was re-elected with 69.15% of the vote. Elie Califer, the incumbent NFP candidate was re-elected with 71.09% of the vote in the 4^th constituency.

In Martinique (32.44% turnout), three of the four incumbent MPs were re-elected: In the 1^st constituency, Jiovanny William, who had been part of a parliamentary group alongside the French Communists, was re-elected with 81.97% of the vote. Marcellin Nadeau, the NFP candidate for the 2^nd constituency, was re-elected with 65.68% of the vote. In the 3^rd constituency, Béatrice Bellay, the Socialist NFP candidate, beat the incumbent left-wing independent Johnny Hajjar, with 54.53% of the vote. Jean-Philippe Nilor, the Communist NFP candidate for the 4th constituency, who has served in the Assemblée since 2012, will return for a fourth term, thanks to 86.58% of the vote.

In French Guiana, the two incumbent MPs were re-elected: In the 1^st constituency, Jean Victor Castor, an MP elected in 2022 under the left-wing NUPES alliance was re-elected with 76.11% of the vote. The 2^nd constituency, meanwhile, had the particularity of having only one candidate in the second round (Sophie Charles, who came second, withdrew her candidacy). It was therefore no surprise that Davy Rimane, elected in 2022 and affiliated with the Communist parliamentary group, was re-elected.

In Saint Pierre and Miquelon, the incumbent right-wing independent MP Stéphane Lenormand was re-elected with 61.72% of the vote.

In Saint-Martin and Saint-Barthélemy, presidential coalition candidate Frantz Gumbs was re-elected with 55% of the vote.

In New Caledonia, Emmanuel Tjibaou, a pro-independence indigenous Kanak candidate has won in the 2^nd constituency, obtaining 57.33% of the votes cast. Tjibaou is a political novice and a son of a well-known Kanak independence leader, Jean-Marie Tjibaou, who was assassinated in 1989. He is the first pro-independence candidate to win a seat in Assemblée Nationale since 1986.

Right-wing independent and loyalist candidate Nicolas Metzdorf won New Caledonia’s 1^st constituency, with 39.81% of votes cast.

Results from Mayotte are expected from 7 pm, and those from Reunion Island from 8 pm.

Le Monde with AP and AFP