In the end it was a decisive and historic victory for Emmanuel Macron. On April 24th, the centrist leader of La République En Marche won 58.5% of the votes cast in France’s presidential run-off, as all pollsters (and The Economist’s model) had predicted he would. He is the first sitting French president to be re-elected in 20 years. But that is not the only bit of history he made. Mr Macron’s remarkable win was secured with the votes of just 38.5% of the total electorate, once abstentions and spoiled ballots are taken into account—the lowest share in more than 50 years.

Around 35m ballots were cast during the second round of voting, which was just 72% of registered voters. That is the lowest turnout since 1969, when the Communist Party urged its supporters to abstain rather than pick between two right-wing candidates, Alain Poher and Georges Pompidou, the winner. This time around too many voters were put off by the choice they faced, which was a replica of the run-off in 2017.

After being pipped for a run-off place by Marine Le Pen in the first round, Jean-Luc Mélenchon, a far-left firebrand, urged his followers not to give her a single vote in the second round. They seem to have heeded his advice: 42% of those who voted for Mr Mélenchon in the first round plumped for Mr Macron in the second, while 17% cast blank votes and 24% abstained, according to analysis by Ipsos, a pollster. Calculations based on Ipsos's figures indicate that the number of second-round abstainers among Mr Mélenchon's supporters was almost double that among those who had backed other eliminated candidates.

Growing disillusionment across the country, especially among the young, the low-paid, and those whose candidates did not make it into the run-off but who no longer sought to form a collective “barrage” vote just in order to keep out Ms Le Pen, also played a part. Since 2007, when turnout was 84% in the first and second rounds, the abstention rate has increased steadily. According to Ipsos, more than 40% of 18- to 24-year-olds did not vote in the second round of these elections. The share among those above 70 was just 15%. Turnout was also correlated to income. Among households earning less than €1,250 ($1,341) per month, 40% abstained while in those earning €3,000 ($3,218) or more, just 22% did.

By global standards, however, the data are not as stark. In America’s presidential election in 2020 70.8% of registered voters cast their ballot (high by that country’s recent standards); in Britain’s general election in 2019 it was just 67%. Despite growing apathy, French elections still bring out more voters than most. ■

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