Voting got underway on Saturday in France's overseas territories located off the coast of Canada, in the Caribbean and the South American territory of French Guiana. Some 49 million French are eligible to vote in the snap parliamentary elections, which could change the country's trajectory.
The candidates ended their frantic three-week campaigns at midnight Friday, with political activity banned until the first round of voting on Sunday.
Residents of the tiny French archipelago of Saint Pierre and Miquelon, located off the coast of Canada, began casting their ballots in the first round of elections from 1000 GMT.
They will be followed by voters in France's islands in the Caribbean and the South American territory of French Guiana. Voting will later start in territories in the Pacific and then in the Indian Ocean before it gets underway on the mainland on Sunday.
Elections for the 577 seats in the lower house National Assembly are a two-round process. The shape of the new parliament will become clear after the second round a week later, on July 7.
A high turnout is predicted, with some 49 million French eligible to vote.
On Monday, Macron plans to convene a government meeting to decide the further course of action, government sources told AFP.
Read moreFrance’s Macron calls snap election in huge gamble after EU polls debacle
Macron's decision to call snap elections after the RN's victory in European Parliament elections this month stunned friends and foes and sparked uncertainty in Europe's second-biggest economy.
The Paris stock exchange suffered its biggest monthly decline in two years in June, dropping by 6.4 percent, according to figures released on Friday.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP)
