Turnout, which could be key in determining the French presidential election, was 26.41 percent at noon on Sunday, according to the Interior Ministry, slightly higher than at the same time for the first round two weeks ago.
It was a stop late in a long campaign during which Mr. Macron, distracted by his fruitless Russia diplomacy, had largely ignored parts of France affected by high immigration, unemployment and hardship — and had seldom shown a real concern for the economic difficulties that rising inflation and gas prices have brought.
Marine Le Pen, the far-right candidate who has brought her anti-immigrant movement closer to power than at any time in the history of the Fifth Republic, focused on precisely these issues, to considerable effect. On Sunday, a bruising gloves-off battle between Ms. Le Pen and Mr. Macron will come to a head as the French choose their president for a five-year term.
No matter the outcome, the election will have profound consequences well beyond France at a time when the United States and its European allies are locked in a precarious standoff with Russia over its war in Ukraine.
Mr. Macron has tried to engage President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia, but has been a dependable part of a united front against the Kremlin. A victory for Ms. Le Pen, long sympathetic to Moscow and indebted for millions to a Russian bank, would no doubt be a victory for Mr. Putin, handing him his most important ally in his quest to weaken the European Union and divide NATO.
An Ipsos and Sofra Steria poll for the daily newspaper Le Monde, published just before campaigning officially stopped on Friday, showed Mr. Macron leading with 56.5 percent of the vote to Ms. Le Pen’s 43.5 percent. He appears to have widened his lead, possibly decisively, during the two weeks since the first round of voting on April 10.
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