PARIS, March 22 (Xinhua) -- The list led by left-wing candidate Emmanuel Gregoire won the second round of municipal elections in Paris on Sunday, BFM TV reported, citing initial estimates from polling institute Elabe.
Gregoire, heading a candidate list backed by an alliance of the Socialist Party, The Ecologists, and the French Communist Party, secured around 50 percent of the vote. Meanwhile, the list led by former culture minister Rachida Dati of The Republicans obtained approximately 40 percent.
Gregoire is a member of the French National Assembly and previously served as first deputy mayor of Paris from 2018 to 2024.
In the first round held on March 15, Gregoire won 37.98 percent of the vote, well ahead of Dati, who secured 25.46 percent. However, Dati subsequently merged her list with that of the Horizons party, led by Pierre-Yves Bournazel, which had obtained 11.34 percent. This move increased the potential for vote transfers and significantly narrowed the gap between Dati and Gregoire, making the second-round race highly competitive.
Municipal elections in France are held every six years to elect local councilors, mayors, and other officials. Unlike previous elections, this year's vote used candidate lists, with independent candidates no longer allowed to run. Voters cast ballots for lists rather than individual candidates.
In the first round, candidate lists that fail to secure more than 50 percent of valid votes but obtain at least 10 percent advance to the second and final round, where the list with a relative majority prevails.
Data from the Interior Ministry showed that a total of 904,042 candidates, grouped into 50,478 lists, took part in this year's municipal elections. According to the National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies, about 48.7 million voters are eligible to participate, including 374,000 European Union citizens residing in France who have registered to vote. ■