Emmanuel Macron received 27.85 percent of the votes cast in the first round of France’s presidential election, while far-right veteran Marine Le Pen received 23.15 percent, according to final figures released by the interior ministry on Monday.
The results allow both to progress to a run-off, but far-left leader Jean-Luc Melenchon finished third with 21.95 percent, putting him out of the first round but still scoring more than many polls predicted.
According to analysts, his electorate will be crucial in determining how Macron and Le Pen do in the second round on April 24.
Only one of the nine other candidates received more than 5% of the vote: rising far-right television commentator Eric Zemmour, who received 7.07% and has urged his supporters to back Le Pen.
Next was Valerie Pecresse of the conservative Republicans at 4.78 percent, below the five percent threshold for having campaign spending largely reimbursed by the state.
On Monday, she issued an emergency plea for donations to ensure her party’s survival, saying she personally had racked up campaign debt of five million euros ($5.5 million).
Greens candidate Yannick Jadot got 4.63 percent, ruralist outsider Jean Lasalle got 3.13 percent, Communist Fabien Roussel got 2.28 percent, and far-right sovereigntist Nicolas Dupont-Aignan got 2.06 percent.
Socialist Anne Hidalgo, the mayor of Paris, scored just 1.75 percent, while anti-capitalists Philippe Poutou won 0.77 percent and Nathalie Arthaud came in last at 0.56 percent.
Turnout reached 73.69 percent, resulting in abstentions of 26.31 percent — up four percentage points from the abstentions of 22.2 percent in the first round of 2017, which also saw Macron and Le Pen advance to the run-off.