PARIS, April 11 (Xinhua) -- The French Interior Ministry on Monday published the final results of the first round of the country's 2022 presidential election, confirming that Emmanuel Macron and Marine Le Pen have qualified for the runoff vote on April 24.
According to the ministry, incumbent President Emmanuel Macron won 9,785,578 votes, or 27.84 percent of the valid ballots cast, while his rival, far-right candidate Marine Le Pen, won 8,136,369 votes, or 23.15 percent.
Radical left candidate Jean-Luc Melenchon came in third with 7,714,949 valid votes.
The abstention rate in the first round was 26.31 percent, higher than the 22.2 percent in the first election round in 2017. ■
