French President casts his vote 

Emmanuel Macron has voted Sunday in the first round of surprise elections he called for just three weeks ago.

The centrist leader placed a huge gamble in dissolving the lower house of parliament after major gains for the far right in European elections in early June. Two rounds of voting will determine who will be prime minister and which party controls the National Assembly.

Macron risks sharing power with parties opposed to most of his policies.
The vote takes place during the traditional first week of summer vacation in France, and absentee ballot requests were at least five times higher than in the 2022 elections.

Voters across mainland France have been casting ballots Sunday in the first round of an exceptional parliamentary election that could put France’s government in the hands of nationalist, far-right parties for the first time since the Nazi era.

The outcome of the two-round election, which will wrap up on July 7, could impact European financial markets, Western support for Ukraine, and how France’s nuclear arsenal and global military force are managed.