The first round of the was held on June 30. The second round is on Sunday.
Each of 577 constituencies sends one delegate to the National Assembly in Paris.
In the first rounds, candidates securing more than 50% of the vote are elected. This happens rarely. In the first round only 76 lawmakers, mostly from the far-right and left, were elected outright.
The fate of the remaining 501 seats will be determined in run-offs between two or three remaining candidates or, in some instances, four.
Candidates who receive at least 12.5% of registered votes are eligible to go through a second decisive round, where the top scorer wins.
However, the candidates are not obliged to compete in the second round even if eligible, and in recent years quite often French mainstream parties have elected to field only the strongest rival candidate against the far right in the runoff to improve their chances of victory.
Ahead the decisive second round of the parliamentary vote, centrist and left-wing parties have already started speculating on a joint election strategy, including presenting a united front to counter RN.
The election is not meant to replace President Macron, whose second and final term in office lasts until 2027.
But he will need to select a prime minister from the ranks of the party that secures a majority in the National Assembly or lower house of parliament.
, Macron would be forced into a period of “cohabitation.” The term refers to periods when the president and prime minister come from different political camps, thus dividing executive power.
In the case of RN, that would be the party’s president Jordan Bardella, rather than Le Pen, who heads the RN’s parliamentary group.
The prime minister is responsible for domestic laws, while Macron will remain head of the military and in charge of decisions concerning foreign policy.
If there is no majority, the president can name a prime minister from the group with the most seats in the National Assembly.
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