A voter leaves a polling station in Saida. (Credit: Muntasser Abdallah/L'Orient Today)
SAIDA, Lebanon — Members of the French community in Lebanon cast their ballots on Sunday in the first round of voting in France’s presidential election.
Voters could choose from 12 different polling stations located throughout the country.
According to our sister publication L’Orient-Le Jour, polling stations in Lebanon witnessed large crowds Sunday afternoon. Nearly 19,000 people in Lebanon are registered to vote in the French election.
According to the consul general of France in Lebanon, Julien Bouchard, 80 percent of registered voters are Lebanese-French dual citizens.
When contacted by L’Orient Today, a spokesperson for the French Embassy said that voter turnout numbers would not be available before counting is complete, which is expected at midnight.
According to our correspondent in South Lebanon, as of midday, 220 members of the French community in Saida and its environs had cast their votes at the approved polling center in Khan Al-Franj, a former hotel built in the sixteenth century near the Sidon port that has been converted into a museum.
The polls closed at 7 p.m.
Voting is supervised by members of the French Consulate.
Speaking to the state-run National News Agency, Bouchard said, “This step is important for us in order to allow the French people who are more than 3,000 km from their country to express their choice democratically.”
Some 12 candidates — Emmanuel Macron, Marine Le Pen, Jean-Luc Mélenchon, Jean Lassalle, Nathalie Arthaud, Anne Hidalgo, Yannick Jadot, Nicolas Dupont-Aignan, Philippe Poutou, Eric Zemmour, Fabien Roussel, Valérie Pécresse — are vying for the right to occupy the Elysee Palace.
The top two candidates in this round will proceed to the second round of voting, due to take place on 24 April. Early polls indicate that incumbent Macron is likely to face off against far right leader Le Pen on this date, in a repeat of how the last election cycle played out.
In the last presidential race in 2017, Macron received 5,064 votes in Lebanon while Le Pen only earned 2,315 votes.