Polling booths opened on Sunday morning for the first round of elections to France’s National Assembly, with President Emmanuel Macron seeking to increase the relative majority currently held in the lower house by his centrist movement.

Some 49.3 million people are eligible to vote. Voting in a number of overseas territories has already started.

Macron called early elections after the far-right National Rally (RN) made large gains in elections to the European Parliament at the beginning of this month.

However, Macron’s presidency is not at stake in the snap election – his second and final term in office ends in 2027. The RN’s Marine Le Pen is seen as a serious contender in the next presidential elections.

The RN is leading in pre-election polling ahead of the new leftist alliance, the New Popular Front (NPF), recently established to contest the elections. The Ensemble (Together) alliance, led by Macron’s Renaissance party, is trailing in third place.