"As of 5 p.m., the turnout was 59.39%. In 2022, at the same hour, it was 39.42%," the ministry said on X.
The Interior Ministry reported that voter turnout reached a record 25.9% by 10:00 GMT, the highest since 1981. In the southern department of Bouches-du-Rhone, voter participation was particularly high at 33.7%, contrasting with Seine-Saint-Denis where only 17.93% of citizens voted.
A total of 2,641,852 power of attorney documents were issued from June 10-28, which is 4.1 times more than in the 2022 elections, according to the interior ministry.
The leaders of the left and right French parties voted in the parliamentary elections in their constituencies on Sunday morning, French broadcaster BFMTV reported.
The leader of France's right-wing National Rally (RN) party, Jordan Bardella, voted at a polling station in the Garches commune of the Hauts-de-Seine department, the broadcaster reported. Manuel Bompard, the leader of the left-wing La France Insoumise party, has cast his vote in Marseille, the report said.
Former candidate for the French presidential election and the leader of RN's parliamentary faction, Marine Le Pen, also voted in elections in the Henin-Beaumont commune, a Sputnik correspondent reported.
French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte have cast their votes in the seaside town of Le Touquet, BFMTV reported.
The voters are currently queuing to vote in Paris, a RIA Novosti correspondent reported, adding that the polling stations are observing high activity.
Some 35% of people in France are planning to vote for the National Rally, 26% for the Popular Front and 19% for Macron's coalition, according to a poll by the French Institute of Public Opinion conducted from June 13-14.
The second round will be held on July 7.
The European Parliament elections' results showed the right-wing National Rally party emerging victorious in France, securing 31.36% of the vote and finishing over 15 percentage points ahead of French President Emmanuel Macron's centrist coalition. In response, the French leader ordered the dissolution of the National Assembly and a two-round snap election slated for June 30 and July 7.