In the presidential runoff between incumbent Emmanuel
Macron and far-right contender Marine Le Pen, most registered activists for
far-left candidate Jean-Luc Melenchon will abstain or leave their ballot papers
blank, suggests an internal survey.

Macron, a pro-European Union centrist, became the
president in 2017 after beating Le Pen when voters rallied behind him in the
runoff to prevent the far-right from coming into power.

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Reuters reported the April 10 first round resulted in a
similar second-round fight, but Macron is facing much tougher competition from
both sides desperate to court voters who backed Melenchon, who placed third in
the first round with 22% of the vote.

Melenchon has urged his supporters not to vote for Le
Pen, but he did not advocate Macron. He did say that his party would conduct a
public consultation to help guide those who backed him.

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According to results released on Sunday from
approximately 215,000 people who took part in the election, over 66% abstained,
left their ballot paper blank, or spoiled it. Around 33% said they would vote
for Macron. The option of voting for Le Pen was not given to respondents.

“The results are not an order to vote for anybody…
everyone will conclude from this and vote as they see fit,” Melenchon’s
campaign team wrote on its website.

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Since the electorate is fragmented and undecided, the
candidate who can convince voters that the other option is far worse will
likely win the election, reported Reuters.

A “republican front” of all kinds of voters
rallying behind a mainstream candidate has kept the far right out of power for
decades.

But Macron’s sometimes abrasive style and policies that
shifted to the right have disappointed many voters and he can no longer
automatically count on that support.

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According to an IPOS-Sopra-Steria poll on Saturday,
around 33% of Melenchon voters would vote for Macron and 16% will support Le
Pen on April 24. Meanwhile, over 50% of people questioned declined to share
their views.