function onPlayerReadyVidible(e){'undefined'!=typeof HPTrack&&HPTrack.Vid.Vidible_track(e)}!function(e,i){if(e.vdb_Player){if('object'==typeof commercial_video){var a='',o='m.fwsitesection='+commercial_video.site_and_category;if(a+=o,commercial_video['package']){var c='&m.fwkeyvalues=sponsorship%3D'+commercial_video['package'];a+=c}e.setAttribute('vdb_params',a)}i(e.vdb_Player)}else{var t=arguments.callee;setTimeout(function(){t(e,i)},0)}}(document.getElementById('vidible_1'),onPlayerReadyVidible); French voters cast their ballots Sunday in the first round of a presidential election that may be a litmus test of just how influential the strains of populism and nationalism in Europe have become.Polls opened Sunday at 8 a.m. local time for the first-round vote that will whittle down the field of 11 candidates.Unless one of them wins more than 50 percent of the vote, the two top candidates will face off in a second round on May 7.Preliminary results of the vote are set to be released just after 8 p.m. local time, with official tallies to come later in the night. At midday, turnout figures for the vote were on pace to top the countrys last presidential election in 2012.In the days prior to the vote, four front-runners emerged in the tight race to succeed Socialist Franois Hollande and become Frances next leader. Center-left Emmanuel Macron and far-right National Front leader Marine Le Penwere leading in the polls at 23 percent and 22 percent, respectively. Meanwhile, Franois Fillon and Jean-Luc Mlenchon hovered between 19 and 20 percent.France finds itself at somewhat of a crossroads in its political history. Working-class voters are struggling with high unemployment and an economy that hasnt fully recovered from the European debt crisis. Several French cities are reeling from recent deadly terrorist attacks. (A Belgian who claimed allegiance to the so-called Islamic State killed one police officer and injured several more Thursday night on Paris Champs Elyses. French authorities foiled yet another attack in the city of Marseille last week.)Security fears loomed over France on Sunday as citizens voted, and a polling station in the eastern town of Besancon was evacuated after reports that a stolen vehicle was abandoned nearby with its engine still running.The threat of terror, along with lack of jobs, have fueled distrust in the government and reinvigorated a vicious debate about immigration and national identity.The vote is just as much a test for the future of Europe. Compounding Frances internal challenges are the rise of populismand the rejection of establishment politics in places like Britain and the United States. Trust in the European system has eroded, and proposals to depart the European Union have become en vogue for populist candidates across the continent.Amid these larger challenges, the French election has also been marked by scandal, surprises and upsets at every turn.First, Hollande announced he would not seek re-election. Then, former President Nicolas Sarkozy failed to win his partys nomination when Fillon, who served as prime minister from 2007 to 2017, beat him in the primaries.The conservative Fillon was a likely front-runner, appealing to right-wing voters with a pro-business and socially conservative platform mixed with anti-immigration and anti-Islam views. But a series of scandals, including allegations Fillon had paid his family members to work as parliamentary aides, caused his support to plummet.As Fillons star faded,Macrons rose. A relative political novice, Macron founded his own political party, En Marche! (which translates roughly to Onward!). After leaving investment banking in 2014, he served as Hollandes economic minister until deciding to run for office last year.Unlike Le Pen, Macron is pro-E.U. and pro-immigration. For Le Pen, the election is the ultimate test of her efforts to bring the extreme-right National Front into the mainstream.Le Pen took over the partys leadership from her father, Jean-Marie Le Pen, and has worked hard to clean up its image. She remains vehementlyanti-immigrationand has vowed to hold a referendum on Frances membership in the European Union if elected. Le Pen is also an open admirer of Russian President Vladimir Putin. During avisit to the Kremlin last month, she called sanctions against Russia silly and reiterated her desire for closer ties with Russia. Faced with declining polls in recent weeks, Le Pen has made a sharp turn to the right and intensified her anti-immigrant rhetoric.For months, polls have been leaning in favor of a runoff between Le Pen and Macron, putting Le Pens presidential dream within reach. And shes managed to harness the youth vote:AnIfop survey last monthrevealed that 39 percent of French voters between the ages of 18 and 24 back her.But the far-left Mlenchon, 65, hasthrown a major curveballby soaring to prominence in the final stretch of the race.A open admirer of former Venezuelan President Hugo Chvez and Chinese communist leader Mao Zedong, Mlenchon spent decades in the Socialist Party before forming his own party, La France Insoumise (A France That Wont Bow Down) last year.He views himself as a patriot who wants to end austerity and boost the economy with a giant stimulus package while also reducing the workweek to 32 hours. Like Le Pen, he opposes E.U. and various other international institutions, including the World Trade Organization. -- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.
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