Polling stations have opened in France in the second round of parliamentary elections, as President Emmanuel Macron's newly-established party is on its way to taking over the French Lower House.
Ipsos projected that Macron's LREM and his MoDem allies will end up with 355 seats while Kantar said 360.
Turnout was estimated at 42-43 %, one of the lowest in French history.
The 39-year-old Macron was elected president in May after creating a centrist political movement that brought together millions of moderates who in the past had backed the Socialists or Republicans. Please refresh the page for the fullest version.
Interior Ministry data showed turnout was 35.33 percent at 5 p.m. (1500 GMT), 10 points lower than at the same time in 2012.
That's also much lower than the midday turnout in the first round of parliamentary elections on June 11, which was at 19.24 percent, according to FranceInfo.
"I will vote for the "En Marche" candidate", said Aurelie, a 25-year-old nurse in Amiens, referring to Macron's party.
France's conservative leader has declared his party the main opposition after losing to new President Emmanuel Macron's movement in the nation's parliamentary vote.
The Socialists dominated the outgoing assembly with 314 seats but were heavily defeated in the presidential race amid the unpopularity of former president Francois Hollande, and could win as few as 20 seats this time.
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"Even if we don't know the new faces it's not important. We're not voting for individuals but for a programme", Dumay added.
"Go and vote!" Prime Minister Edouard Philippe said on Thursday.
Around half of REM's candidates are virtual unknowns drawn from diverse fields of academia, business or local activism.
Mr Macron was previously economy minister in his predecessor's government, but quit the job and resigned his party's whip to launch a bid for the presidency.
Key battles on Sunday include far-right leader Marine Le Pen's attempt to win her first seat in parliament from the northeastern former coal mining town of Henin-Beaumont.
The move comes two weeks after President Emmanuel Macron criticised his USA counterpart Donald Trump for pulling out of the UN's Paris climate agreement - calling on United States climate scientists and entrepreneurs to "come and work in France on concrete solutions for climate".
Far-left ex-presidential candidate Jean-Luc Melenchon is voting in the Mediterranean city of Marseille, where he is seeking a seat as well.
Le Pen's right wing Front National party garnered 13.2% of the vote last Sunday and is expected to take between one and four seats.
His confident start at home, where he has concentrated on trying to restore the lost prestige of the president, and his decisive action on the worldwide stage has led to a host of positive headlines.




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