Far-right eyes landmark win as France votes in high-stakes snap elections

• National Rally party expected to win.
• First round of polls begins at 8:00am.
• A high turnout is predicted.

French people are set to vote in snap parliamentary elections today (Sunday) potentially leading to the far-right National Rally (RN) party, led by Marine Le Pen, taking power for the first time.

This is because there has been a significant surge in support for the anti-immigration and eurosceptic party with Russia's war against Ukraine in its third year and energy and food prices much higher, AFP reported.

The first round of elections in mainland France begins at 8:00am and ends 12 hours later, with projections predicting the results. Overseas voters cast ballots earlier, with 49 million French eligible to vote, including those in France's overseas territories.

Elections for the 577 seats in the National Assembly are a two-round process. The shape of the new parliament will become clear after the second round, a week later, on July 7.

Most polls show that RN is on course to win the largest number of seats in the National Assembly, parliament's lower house, although it remains unclear if the party will secure an outright majority.

A high turnout is predicted and final opinion polls have given the RN between 35% and 37% of the vote, against 27.5-29% for the left-wing New Popular Front alliance and 20%-21% for Macron's centrist camp.

If the RN obtains an absolute majority, its party chief Jordan Bardella, Le Pen's 28-year-old protege with no governing experience, could become prime minister in a tense "cohabitation" with Macron.

On Monday, Macron plans to convene a government meeting to decide the further course of action, government sources told AFP.

France is heading for a year of political chaos and confusion with a hung Assembly, said Mujtaba Rahman, Europe head at Eurasia Group, a risk consultancy.

"There is no precedent in recent French politics for such an impasse," Rahman said.