French voters are heading to the polls to choose new municipal teams in an early test for political parties before next year’s presidential elections. More than 900,000 candidates for municipal posts in roughly 35,000 villages, towns and cities are on the ballots Sunday. Attention is focused on key races in major cities including Paris and Marseille. The performances of the far-right National Rally will be studied for possible indications of whether the party of Marine Le Pen is gathering momentum in the lead-up to 2027. In places were the outcome remains undecided, a second round of voting next Sunday will determine final results.
