France's far-right National Rally seen leading in first round of snap election, exit polls show

• The first round of a snap parliamentary election in France points to a surge in votes for the anti-immigrant National Rally party, with President Emmanuel Macron's centrist alliance coming into third place.
• Early polling data from national broadcaster France 2 indicates that National Rally (RN) won 34% of the vote while the leftist New Popular Front (NFP) alliance got 28.1%.
• Macron's centrist Together bloc garnered 20.3%, according to initial projections, which are based on samples of actual results taken from polling stations that closed earlier in the afternoon.

The first round of a snap parliamentary election in France points to a surge in votes for the anti-immigrant National Rally party, with President Emmanuel Macron's centrist alliance coming into third place.

Early polling data from national broadcaster France 2 indicates that National Rally (RN) won 34% of the vote while the leftist New Popular Front (NFP) alliance got 28.1%. Macron's centrist Together bloc garnered 20.3%, according to initial projections, which are based on samples of actual results taken from polling stations that closed earlier in the afternoon.

Polling stations in large cities close later. A clearer picture of the results should emerge after 10 p.m. local time.

Candidates are only elected in the first round if they receive an absolute majority of votes and get more than 25% of the registered local electorate's support. If no candidate meets that standard, a second round of voting is held, listing the top two candidates and any other candidates who secured more than 12.5% of registered voters' support. The candidate that wins the largest number of votes then wins the seat.

The second round of voting on July 7 is the one to watch, according