French head to polls for watershed 'globalist-vs-nationalist' presidential elections

The turnout stood at 28.23 percent at midday, down from 30.66 percent at the same point in the 2012 presidential ballot, according to the interior ministry.

Voting had began at 0600 GMT in 66,546 polling stations. Most will close at 1700 GMT, except those in big cities which will stay open an hour longer.

A first estimate of the results will be published around 1800 GMT.

The run-off vote pits the pro-Europe, pro-business 39-year-old Macron against anti-immigration and anti-EU Le Pen, two radically different visions that underline a split in Western democracies.

Le Pen, 48, has portrayed the ballot as a contest between the "globalists" represented by her rival - those in favour of open trade, immigration and shared sovereignty - versus the "nationalists" who defend strong borders and national identities.

The last polling showed Macron - winner of last month's election first round - with a widening lead of around 62 percent to 38 percent before the hacking revelations on Friday evening. A campaigning blackout entered into force shortly after.

Whoever wins Sunday's vote it is set to cause profound change for France, the world's sixth-biggest economy, a permanent member of the UN Security Council and a global military nuclear-armed power.

It is the first time neither of the country's traditional parties has a candidate in the final round of the presidential election under the modern French republic, founded in 1958.

Macron, aged 39, would be France's youngest-ever leader and was a virtual unknown three years ago when he was named economy minister, the launchpad for his sensational presidential bid.

He left Hollande's Socialist government in August and formed En Marche (On the Move), a political movement he says is neither of the left nor the right and which has attracted 250,000 members.

The ex-investment banker's is fervently pro-European and wants to re-energise the 28-member European Union, following Britain's referendum vote last summer to leave.

"France is not a closed country. We are in Europe and in the world," Macron said during Wednesday's debate. 

former France footballer Zinedine Zidane urged people to do anything they can to avoid having Le Pen win the presidency

National Front leader Le Pen sees herself as part of the same backlash against globalisation that has emerged as a powerful theme in the US and in recent ballots in Britain, Austria and the Netherlands.

She has vowed to reduce net immigration to 10,000 people a year, crack down on outsourcing by multinationals, lower the retirement age and introduce hardline measures to tackle Islamic extremists. Opponents accuse her of Islamophobia.

Many voters still see her party as racist despite her six-year drive to improve its image.

There are around six million people of Arab descent living in France, the majority of which are from North Africa. They have come to form the second largest ethnic group in the country.

While laws in France ban opinion polls based on race or religion, it appears their voice – which traditionally favoured the socialist left in France – is now at loss.

Last month, former France footballer Zinedine Zidane urged people to do anything they can to avoid having Le Pen win the presidency.

The current real Madrid coach said he is "far from all these ideas, from this National Front. So we need to do everything to avoid this."

Zidane, who was born in Marseille and comes from Algerian descent, took a similar stance when Jean-Marie Le Pen - Marine's father - made it to the second round of the 2002 presidential election.

A former World Cup and European Championship winner, Zidane remains highly popular in France. He says the message "is the same, the one from 2002."