Marine Le Pen’s National Rally has received an early boost in the French elections with three of its candidates already qualifying for the second round of voting in overseas territories.

France flocked to the polls on Sunday for a high-stakes snap election that could see Ms Le Pen’s National Rally win control of the parliament.

Three MPs from the hard-Right have already made it to next week’s run-off in the French overseas territories of Martinique and Guadeloupe, where voting opens earlier than the mainland.

Some 49 million people were registered to vote in what has become a proxy referendum on president Emmanuel Macron’s leadership after seven years in the Élysée Palace.

The final polls published on Friday before the first found of voting saw support for the National Rally reach a record 36-37 per cent.

This could pave the way for Jordan Bardella, 28, to become France’s youngest prime minister after a second run-off vote next Sunday.

It would mark the first time the hard-Right have been in power in France for the first time since the Nazi occupation during the second world war.

Polls opened at 8am local time across France and will close around 12 hours later.

It is immediately followed by the first official prediction published by the interior ministry at 8pm local time, the results of which are usually reliable. 

President Macron called the snap election three weeks ago after his centrist alliance suffered a humiliating defeat, when the National Rally secured twice as many votes as his own bloc.

Elections for the 577 seats in France’s National Assembly are contested over two rounds.

Some 4,000 candidates are competing in the first round of voting on Sunday, but they must meet specific thresholds to proceed to the second run-off state, held a week later, on July 7.

Most polls show National Rally winning the most number of seats, but there are questions whether the party will secure an outright majority.

The Left-wing New Popular Front is polling between 27.5-29 per cent and President Macron’s centrist coalition is predicted to win between 20-21 per cent of the vote, according to the final opinion polls.

If National Rally does obtain an outright majority, it would put Mr Bardella in a tense “cohabitation” with Macron, which analysts believe could lead to deadlock and political instability.

But there is also the prospect of a hung parliament with the same blockages expected.

The Paris stock exchange suffered its biggest monthly decline in two years in June, dropping by 6.4 per cent, according to figures released on Friday as the final opinion polls were published.

Participation in the elections was recorded at 25.9 per cent in the first official turnout published at midday on Sunday.

The turnout was up more than seven points compared to 2022.