Élection Française 2017 - Live(ish) Thread

[EC]

 

Won't be any results for hours yet, polls opened 90 minutes ago. This is the Live Thread, so post if you find anything interesting, as well as comments etc.

France votes in presidential election after eventful campaign

 (CNN)French voters go to the polls Sunday after a presidential election campaign that was notable for its volatility and overshadowed in its final days by a terror attack on police in Paris.
While there are 11 names on the ballot, only four leading contenders are seen as having a realistic prospect of making it through to the second round of voting.

They are far-right National Front leader Marine Le Pen, scandal-hit conservative François Fillon, centrist newcomer Emmanuel Macron and far-left wildcard Jean-Luc Mélenchon.

The top two in Sunday's vote will face off on May 7 for the second and final round of voting.

Latest polls suggest the results are too close to call, meaning France could end up with a choice between candidates from the far-left and far-right, or a far-right stalwart facing off against a political novice. With such a fractured field, no one is expected to win a majority in Sunday's first round.

More plus Video: http://edition.cnn.com/2017/04/23/europe/french-presidential-election-vote/

[EC]

The French Election Is Way Too Close To Call (538)

The first part of one of the most topsy-turvy presidential elections in modern French history will come to a head on Sunday. That’s when voters in France head to the polls for the first round of voting. The top two finishers will proceed to a runoff election unless the top vote-getter receives more than 50 percent of the vote, in which case he or she wins outright. But if the polls are to be believed, that’s not going to happen. Instead, candidates representing the far right, far left, center and center-right all have a shot at securing one of the two spots in the runoff on May 7.

In short, the French presidential election is a mess.

Through much of 2017, Sunday’s contest looked like it was going to be a race to see who was going to advance to the runoff against the far-right National Front candidate Marine Le Pen. Originally, Le Pen’s most likely opponent appeared to be center-right Republican François Fillon. Given Le Pen’s poor showing in runoff polls, this would have made Fillon a strong favorite to become president. Fillon, though, became the center of a scandal in which he was accused of using public funds to pay his wife and adult children for fictitious jobs. He refused to drop out of the race and plummeted in the polls. That’s when former left-wing Socialist and now En Marche! centrist candidate Emmanuel Macron climbed into a first-place tie with Le Pen and looked destined to end up in a runoff with her.

More: https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/the-french-election-is-way-too-close-to-call/

[EC]

There is a poll here for your top two picks, thanks to @Freya

[EC]

And, for those of you who prefer news from the media of the nation involved:

France votes in hotly contested presidential race amid tight security

Voters on Sunday are casting their ballots in the first election in France’s modern history to take place under a state of emergency. Security has been tightened across the country with many polling stations guarded by armed police and soldiers.

Polls opened at 8am local time across the country in the first round of a high-stakes presidential election that is being closely watched by the international community.

Around 46.87 million voters are registered to vote in 66,546 polling stations, several of them protected – for the first time in recent memory -- by armed police and soldiers.

The tightened security measures follow an attack on the world famous Champs-Élysées Thursday night, when a gunman killed a policeman and wounded three others, including two policemen. The attack was claimed by the Islamic State group.

"The government is fully mobilised,” French Prime Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said after an emergency meeting of top security officials on Friday. “Nothing must be allowed to impede the fundamental democratic process of our country.”

Around 50,000 policemen and 7,000 soldiers have been deployed to protect the nation’s voting sites, both Sunday and in the May 7 second round.

Another test of post-war liberal order

French voters are choosing from 11 presidential candidates in a hotly contested race that is widely viewed as yet another test of the post-war liberal economic order following the shock victory of Donald Trump in the 2016 US presidential election and the Brexit vote in the UK.

The favourites in the first round are far-right’s Marine Le Pen, centrist Emmanuel Macron, the centre-right’s François Fillon and extreme left candidate Jean-Luc Mélenchon.

More: http://www.france24.com/en/20170421-security-heightened-french-polling-stations-amid-terror-fears-france

The named candidates (in the article, not here cause I'm lazy) have links to news items from France24 on each candidate. for anyone curious.

[Gefn]

Bookmarking

Merci @EC

[EC]

De rien, madmoiselle. 

[Gefn]

De rien, madmoiselle. 

Gee, I feel like I should start singing an Edith Piaf song all of a sudden. :)

[mountaineer]

Gee, I feel like I should start singing an Edith Piaf song all of a sudden. :)

Great, now you have "La Vie en Rose" going through my little pea-sized brain!

Meanwhile, in France:

PARIS — The Latest on the first round of France’s presidential election (all times local):

1 p.m.

France’s Interior Ministry says the voter turnout so far in the first round of the presidential election is about the same as it was in 2012, when turnout was high.

At midday Sunday, the ministry said that 28.54 percent of eligible voters had cast their ballot, compared with 28.29 percent in 2012.

Commentators have said a low voter turnout would benefit far-right candidate Marine Le Pen, whose voters are seen to have more enthusiasm and are more certain to vote in a low turnout election than supporters of some other candidates.
___

12:20 p.m.

A voting station in eastern France has reopened after being evacuated because of a suspicious vehicle parked nearby.

Interior Ministry spokesman Pierre-Henry Brandet told The Associated Press that the voting station in Besancon was evacuated while explosives experts examined the car, but they deemed there to be no risk.

He said no other incidents have been reported in Sunday’s first-round presidential election.

Tens of thousands of security forces are guarding voting stations across France after an attack in Paris on Thursday revived security concerns. France remains under a state of emergency after deadly Islamic extremist attacks in recent years.

The top two winners on Sunday will advance to a May 7 runoff.
___

11:30 a.m.

Topless demonstrators from the Femen activist group have caused a commotion as they staged a stunt against Marine Le Pen outside a polling station where the far-right presidential candidate was heading to vote.

Around six topless Femen activists were detained Sunday morning after jumping out of an SUV limo wearing masks of Le Pen and United States President Donald Trump.

Police and security forces quickly forced them into police vans, confiscating their signs.

Le Pen voted at the station shortly after without further disruption.

The election is taking place amid heightened security. The government has mobilized more than 50,000 police and gendarmes to protect polling stations. ...

More from WashPost

[mountaineer]

French elections 2017: disintegrating left-right divide sets stage for political upheaval
Squeezed by Jean-Luc Mélenchon on one side and Emmanuel Macron on the other, the presidential contest could mean destruction for the Socialist party

French voters go to the polls on Sunday in the first round of a presidential election that to the very end has brought little consensus or comfort and only one certainty: the result will be a political upheaval, whoever wins.

Even as they walk into their bureau de vote, many will still be undecided, faced with paper slips for an unprecedented 11 candidates, only four of them thought to be serious contenders for the Elysée palace. There is a nail-biting sense that anything could happen.

Do they vote for or against? Do they choose a candidate who represents their politics or one who, opinion polls suggest, is most likely to defeat the woman whose presence as one of two candidates in the second-round runoff in a fortnight seems a given, but whose name still provokes a frisson of fear for many: the far-right Front National leader Marine Le Pen, with her anti-Europe, anti-immigration, “French-first” programme?

As election day has approached, and with the added complication of the terrorist threat following the shooting of a police officer on the Champs-Elysées in Paris, the dilemma has caused particular anguish for France’s mainstream leftwing voters, whose candidate is trailing in fifth place.

There are no certainties, but barring all other candidates “dropping from a nasty virus”, as one political analyst put it, Benoît Hamon is facing a crushing defeat in the first round, ending his leadership dreams and putting the future of the country’s Socialist party (PS) in question....

Even worse, and even more unthinkable, if leftwing voters turn en masse to Jean-Luc Mélenchon as their best hope of a place in the second round against the frontrunners – independent centrist Emmanuel Macron, Le Pen or the conservative François Fillon – and Hamon polls less than 5%, none of Hamon’s campaign expenses will be reimbursed, bankrupting the PS.  ...

More at The Guardian.

[MajorClay]

Looking forward to this

[Gefn]

Looking forward to this

Me too. I do like politics.

[Gefn]

Great, now you have "La Vie en Rose" going through my little pea-sized brain!

Meanwhile, in France: More from WashPost

It's a very pretty song, I think.

[mystery-ak]

http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/former-obama-adviser-ben-rhodes-a-win-for-marine-le-pen-in-france-would-be-devastating/article/2620987
Former Obama adviser Ben Rhodes: A win for Marine Le Pen in France would be 'devastating'

[Gefn]

Drudge headline says winner announced at 2pm EST today.

[rangerrebew]

Marine Le Pen: Deport the S-Files!
Posted on April 23, 2017 by Baron Bodissey   

France goes to the polls today to vote in the first round of the presidential election. Below is the first part of an interview conducted by an annoying progressive media snoid with one of the candidates, Marine Le Pen.

Note: when Ms. Le Pen and her interlocutor discuss “S-files”, they are referring to residents of France with known terrorist connections for whom a dossier known as an S-file has been compiled by French intelligence.

Many thanks to Ava Lon for the translation, and to Vlad Tepes for the subtitling:

http://gatesofvienna.net/2017/04/marine-le-pen-deport-the-s-files/

[Cyber Liberty]

What time to the polls close (Paris time)?

[Wingnut]

http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/former-obama-adviser-ben-rhodes-a-win-for-marine-le-pen-in-france-would-be-devastating/article/2620987
Former Obama adviser Ben Rhodes: A win for Marine Le Pen in France would be 'devastating'

Ben Dover is a Obama toady and should not be listened to.

[Cyber Liberty]

Ben Dover is a Obama toady and should not be listened to.

It behooves us to listen to him sometimes just to get an idea of what kind of fertilizer he's spreading...

They've been saying the "far-right candidate would be a world crime" for years, but we've never seen it happen so who knows?  I imagine their snowflakes would be eating pepper spray in the streets too.

[Wingnut]

It behooves us to listen to him sometimes just to get an idea of what kind of fertilizer he's spreading...
 I imagine their snowflakes would be eating pepper spray in the streets too.

They will get a reprieve in between the bi-monthlysuicide bombings/Machete/AK and truck swerving attacks.

[rangerrebew]

LIVE FROM PARIS: Suspense, Anticipation and a Feeling that Anything Could Happen

Damien Cowley Apr 23rd, 2017 12:57 am Leave a Comment

 

The normal Sunday morning is a lazy affair in the French capital. Streets are quiet bar neighborhoods where the market day is held on Sunday. Early-riser tourists make their way to the city’s attractions to beat the crowds. Most businesses remain closed and the busiest places are still the boulangerie and the church – proof that some traditions refuse to die-out.

Election day is no lazy Sunday however. Roughly 80% of registered voters ordinarily turn out to vote. 2007 saw the figure as high as 84%, even greater in Paris. It is a duty the French take seriously and many are rising early to vote in order to free up the rest of the day.

http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2017/04/live-paris-suspense-anticipation-feeling-anything-happen/

[Sanguine]

Thanks for starting this thread, EC.

[rangerrebew]

MARINE LE PEN Leads All Candidates in Last Minute Leaked French Poll

Jim Hoft Apr 23rd, 2017 9:41 am 80 Comments

Marine Le Pen leads all French candidates in a last minute leaked poll published by La Libre.
Westmonster reported:

    A shock leaked poll obtained by Belgian newspaper La Libre shows Marine Le Pen leading the French Presidential race on 26%, with conservative Francois Fillon in second place on 22%.

    If that result played out today it would mean that establishment favourite Emmanuel Macron would be knocked out and that Le Pen would take on Fillon one-on-one.

    That would be highly significant as Le Pen has polled best against Fillon, as high as 47%.

http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2017/04/marine-le-pen-leads-candidates-last-minute-leaked-french-poll/

[Frank Cannon]

MARINE LE PEN Leads All Candidates in Last Minute Leaked French Poll

Jim Hoft Apr 23rd, 2017 9:41 am 80 Comments

Marine Le Pen leads all French candidates in a last minute leaked poll published by La Libre.
Westmonster reported:

    A shock leaked poll obtained by Belgian newspaper La Libre shows Marine Le Pen leading the French Presidential race on 26%, with conservative Francois Fillon in second place on 22%.

    If that result played out today it would mean that establishment favourite Emmanuel Macron would be knocked out and that Le Pen would take on Fillon one-on-one.

    That would be highly significant as Le Pen has polled best against Fillon, as high as 47%.

http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2017/04/marine-le-pen-leads-candidates-last-minute-leaked-french-poll/

If Fillon loses we all lose. Le Pen is a Leftist nutbag.

[ABX]

Socialist, Globalist, Holocaust Denier, Russian Stooge. What's there not to love? /sark

...This is a really bad habit American conservatives have picked up. We watch European politicians take positions on a few cherry picked issues, and rush to celebrate them, no matter what their views on other issues are.......

....Marine Le Pen is the head of the National Front (Front National) in France, a party founded by Holocaust Denier-Vichy Apologist Jean-Marie Le Pen. Marine is his daughter, and has now taken over the party.....

...But let’s be clear on this: She’s not just her father’s daughter. She chose to join his party. She chose to work beneath him. She’s built a career trying to advance his party and his agenda. That she now uses him as a scapegoat doesn’t absolve her of that.....

...Under her, the party has taken large payouts from Vladimir Putin’s Russia, allowing itself to be used as a foreign agent. For her part, she’s praised Putin, calling him the defender of Christian values.

In Greece, she supported SYRIZA, the extreme left coalition that’s been trying to tear that country down. This itself is a key sign that she literally is a National Socialist. Even Socialist President François Hollande has compared her with a “leaflet of the Communist Party.”....

...In her current Presidential run, she’s declared herself against privatization, and supports a large, strong state apparatus.

She’s backed John Maynard Keynes’s Havana Charter for international economy.

In the US she’s joined the extreme left of the Democrats, and called for Glass-Steagall to return.

She’s called for something even stronger than Too Big To Fail: Nationalization of banks......

http://www.redstate.com/neil_stevens/2016/11/16/marine-le-pen-isnt-okay-matter-view-islam/

...but heck, she hates Islam so hop on board..

[Cyber Liberty]

If Fillon loses we all lose. Le Pen is a Leftist nutbag.

Can't  be helped, Frank.  They're all French.