Le Pen’s support in France’s electorate has grown during this campaign to her highest level ever, and much on Sunday will depend on how many people turn out to vote. Participation was 26.1 per cent at midday, slightly higher than at the same point in the first-round vote April 10.

Many of those expected to choose Macron are doing so to keep out Le Pen and ideas seen as too extreme and anti-democratic, such as her plan to ban the Muslim headscarf in public, or her ties to Russia.

“I am serene,” she said as she cast her ballot in the northern town of Henin-Beaumont. “I have confidence in the French.”

Macron, meanwhile, greeted crowds with handshakes and embraces in the English Channel coastal town of Le Touquet.

Both candidates are trying to court the 7.7 million votes of leftist candidate Jean-Luc Melenchon, who was defeated in the first round on April 10.

For many who voted for left-wing candidates in the first round, the run-off presents an unpalatable choice between a nationalist in Le Pen, and a president who some feel has veered to the right during his first term.

The outcome could depend on how left-wing voters make up their minds: between backing Macron or abstaining and leaving him to fend for himself against Le Pen.

Voting west of Paris in the suburb of Le Pecq, Stephanie David cast her ballot for Macron “without much joy”. She had voted for the Communist Party candidate in round one.

“It was the least worst choice,” said the transport logistics worker. Le Pen was anathema to her: “Even if she tries to soften her rhetoric, I can’t stomach it.”

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Retiree Jean-Pierre Roux voted to keep out Le Pen’s father Jean-Marie in the 2002 run-off and again against his daughter in 2017. But Roux could not bring himself to vote Macron again this time. He put an empty envelope in the voting box. He said he regarded Macron as too arrogant to vote for again, citing a common complaint of the president that Le Pen echoed, too.

“I am not against his ideas but I cannot stand the person,” he said.

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Le Pen has sought to appeal to working class voters struggling with surging prices amid the fallout of Russia’s war in Ukraine – an approach that even Macron acknowledged has found resonance in the wider public. She said bringing down the cost of living would be her priority if elected as France’s first woman president, and she portrayed herself as the candidate for voters unable to make ends meet.

Le Pen says Macron’s presidency has left the country deeply divided, pointing to yellow vest protest movement that rocked his government before the Covid-19 pandemic, with months of violent demonstrations against economic policies that some thought hurt the poorest.

Macron has sought to appeal to voters of immigrant heritage and religious minorities, especially because of Le Pen’s proposed policies targeting Muslims and putting French citizens first in line for jobs and benefits.

Macron has also touted his environmental and climate accomplishments in a bid to draw in young voters popular with far-left left candidates. Many young French voters are particularly engaged with climate issues.

Although Macron was associated with the slogan “Make The Planet Great Again”, in his first five-year term, he capitulated to angry yellow vest protesters by scrapping a tax hike on fuel prices. Macron has said his next prime minister would be placed in charge of environmental planning as France seeks to become carbon neutral by 2050.

Le Pen, once considered a climate-change sceptic, wants to scrap subsidies for renewable energies. She vowed to dismantle wind farms and invest in nuclear and hydro energy.