On Saturday, French citizens in New York turned out in droves to vote in the second round of the French parliamentary runoff elections.
French officials told The Post that hundreds of people went to the consulate, as well as to the posh Lycée Français de New York, a private school on East 75th Street, and the Villa Albertine, a networking arts space on Fifth Avenue, to vote in person on Saturday.
Voting is also taking place online, consulate officials said, and France also allows citizens to request that a trusted person vote on their behalf.
Marine Le Pen’s right-wing nationalist party, the Rally National, came out on top. First vote Last Sunday, a coalition of centre-left, left-wing and Green parties followed, with President Emmanuel Macron’s centrist coalition coming in a distant third.
The party has steadily grown in popularity over the past decade and hopes to win an absolute majority in the second round of voting, which would give National Rally leader Jordan Bardella the premiership and form a government at odds with Macron’s policies on issues such as Ukraine and police powers.
Pre-election polls have predicted that the party may win the most seats in the National Assembly, but fall short of the 289 seats needed for an absolute majority, which could lead to a hung parliament.
If Le Pen wins, France will have a far-right majority for the first time since World War II.
In New York, more than 12,000 French nationals voted out of the 32,600 who live in the city and are registered to vote, said Victor Caroline, a spokeswoman for the French consulate in New York.
This is a significant increase from the 4,700 who voted in the 2022 French parliamentary elections.
There were 25,700 French voters in the city.
“The turnout was amazing,” Carolee said.
The results of the vote are expected to be announced later Sunday.
— Press agency report
