Projections forecast a record abstention of 52.8 percent in the French legislative

MADRID, 12 Jun. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The final abstention in the first round of the French legislative elections held this Sunday in France could be around 52.8 percent, a record figure predicted by the Elabe demographic in a study prepared for BFMTV and 'L'Express'.

The abstention would thus exceed that of the first round of 2017 (51.3 percent) and would be widely above that of 2012 (42.78 percent).

Most polling stations close at 6:00 p.m., although they will remain open until 8:00 p.m. in the main cities of the country. At that time the first official results will be known.

The lower the turnout, the less likely it is that the election will be decided in the first round, since in addition to achieving 50 percent of the vote, turnout must reach 25 percent.

This Sunday's vote comes seven weeks after the victory of centrist Emmanuel Macron in the second round of the French presidential election. Macron beat the far-right Marine Le Pen with 28.01 percent abstention, an unprecedented figure since the election of Georges Pompidou in 1969.

Now the left has mobilized in the New Popular Ecologist and Social Union coalition (known as Nupes) and aspires to avoid a new majority of Macron's Republic on the Move party to force what is traditionally known in France as cohabitation: a president of a party and a government of a different sign supported by a legislative majority.