France will hold the second round of the presidential election (run-off) on Sunday pitting Pro-European centrist President Emmanuel Macron (44) and the far-right, anti-immigration candidate opposition Marine Le Pen (53).
Voting starts at 6 AM GMT and ends at 6 PM GMT when exit polls will be published, and French TV will announce the predicted winner.
An exit poll is a poll taken of a small percentage of voters as they leave the voting centres, used to forecast the outcome of an election or determine the reasons for voting decisions.
The official results of the second round of the French presidential election will trickle in throughout the evening, but the exit polls are usually reliable.
The first round of France’s 2022 presidential election was held on 10 April and Macron came first with 27.8% of the vote, Le Pen got 23.1% of the vote, while Jean-Luc Mélenchon received 22% of the vote.
Opinion polls have predicted a Macron win but with a far smaller winning margin than in 2017 when he previously beat Le Pen by taking 66.1 per cent of the vote.
The main issue for voters, according to Reuters, is purchasing power due to a huge increase in energy prices and rising inflation.
The war in Ukraine gave Macron an initial boost but that has waned, according to opinion polls.
Unemployment is at its lowest in years but voters are unhappy with Macron’s economic policies.
However, those polled did not think any of Macron’s opponents would do a better job.
Another issue likely to be decisive is how Macron handled the COVID-19 pandemic.