After a campaign full of surprises, France is voting today in what is expected to be a tightly-contested presidential election. DW has rounded up the best content to keep you informed.
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French election: The major players
France is choosing a new president this year. A first round vote on April 23 isn't expected to produce a clear winner, setting up a face-off between the top two contenders on May 7. DW takes a look at the major players.
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Emmanuel Macron
Macron quit as economy minister in August and launched his independent presidential bid in November. The 39-year-old centrist formed his own political movement, En Marche (Forward), and is seen as a reformer. Despite having never held elected office, polls have predicted his win in the final round of voting in May. He's voiced admiration for German Chancellor Angela Merkel's refugee policy.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/S. Bozon
Marine Le Pen
The National Front leader has adopted a more moderate tone than her anti-Semitic father, party founder Jean-Marie Le Pen. But she still takes a hard line on immigration, saying children of irregular migrants should not have access to public education. She also wants France to withdraw from the eurozone and have a referendum on EU membership. It's predicted she'll advance to the second round.
Image: Reuters/P. Rossignol
Francois Fillon
A surprise winner of the right-wing Republicans primaries, the socially conservative Fillon is seen to represent the interests of France's Catholic middle class. An admirer of former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, he supports a liberal economic policy. Though Penelopegate and other scandals have marred Fillon's campaign, he has professed no wrongdoing and vowed to fight on.
Image: Reuters/P. Wojazer
Benoit Hamon
In a runoff against former French PM Manuel Valls in the Socialist primary, Hamon was the more left-wing choice of the two politicians. The 49-year-old supports a universal basic income and wants to shorten the traditional work week. He has also spoken in support of increased investment in renewable energy. He faces an uphill battle as many socialist politicians have voiced support for Macron.
Image: Reuters/P. Wojazer
Jean-Luc Melenchon
The Left Party's candidate landed fourth in the 2012 presidential elections. Melenchon, a current European Parliament member, believes the bloc's economic liberalism has stifled France. He hopes to profit from the center-left's disarray, but may split votes with socialist Hamon. Supported by the French Communist party, Melenchon advocates a shorter work week and climate protection.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/E. Feferberg
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The election candidates are the independent Emmanual Macron, Francois Fillon of the conservative Les Republicains, Benoit Hamon of the Socialist Party, Marine Le Pen of the far-right Front National and Jean-Luc Melenchon, who is supported by the Communist party.
The first round of voting takes place on April 23 with the top two candidates then facing off in a decisive second round on May 7.
Current polls suggest that Marine Le Pen will only become the second Front National candidate after her father in 2002 to reach the run-off. But who she will face is still up in the air in a race that has been hit by scandal.
French election campaign - battle of the outsiders?
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Francois Fillon
The main conservative candidate began the campaign as clear favorite on a ticket of business-friendly reforms. But after he faced accusations of paying his wife hundreds of thousands of euros for a job she never did, his ratings plummeted.
For a candidate promising to tackle corruption, the scandal hit hard. Fillon is under investigation and faces a real fight to save his candidacy after polls revealed a majority of voters want him to withdraw.
What you need to know about Francois Fillon and "Penelopegate"
Francois Fillon is struggling to rebuild his presidential campaign after accusations that he hired family members in "fake jobs". But what exactly has Fillon been accused of - and how has he defended himself?
Image: picture-alliance/abaca/A. Robert
Frontrunner no more
Many expected Francois Fillon to be a shoo-in for the presidency. The former French prime minister easily won the conservative primary with 67 percent of the vote. But then Penelopegate hit. Weekly newspaper Canard Enchaine reported that Fillon's wife Penelope and two of his children had received close to one million euros in salaries from Fillon, paid by the state. Fillon's popularity tumbled.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/M. Bureau
Working for her husband?
It is not illegal in France to hire family members as parliamentary assistants - provided they have real jobs. Fillon's wife was paid 830,000 euros ($900,000) as a parliamentary assistant for 15 years, working (or - as some have suggested - "working") for Fillon and his replacement in parliament. Police are currently investigating whether Penelope provided services for the salary she received.
Image: picture alliance/abaca/Y. Korbi
Keeping it in the family
Reporters also revealed that Fillon paid his two oldest children 84,000 euros for working as assistants between 2005 and 2007. Fillon argued that he had hired Marie and Charles Fillon for their legal expertise - though the two were still in law school when they had jobs with their father.
Image: Picture-Alliance/dpa/R. Jensen
More accusations
Penelope was also employed at an art magazine from May 2012 to December 2013, where she was paid roughly 5,000 euros a month. The owner of the magazine had previously been recommended for France's highest honor, the Grand Cross of the Legion of Honor, by then-prime minister Francois Fillon. Fillon has said that these two facts were unrelated.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/E. Feferberg
A smear campaign?
Fillon has repeatedly denied charges that he used "fake jobs" to enrich his family. He has said that he employed his wife and children because he trusted them and accused the media of running a smear campaign against him. Nevertheless, Penelopegate has severely damaged the campaign of the 63-year old, who has sold himself to French voters as an honest family man keen on cutting public spending.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/P. Desmazes
Certainly not a first
The accusations against Fillon are hardly the first of their kind in France. Ex-President Jacques Chirac was found guilty in 2011 of employing party members in "fake jobs" as mayor of Paris. Former president Nicolas Sarkozy is being investigated for illegal campaign financing, and presidential candidate Marine Le Pen is suspected of paying officials in her far-right party with EU funds.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/C. Ena
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Emmanual Macron
The former investment banker entered politics under Francois Hollande. First, he served as the president's advisor and then he became minister of economic affairs. In 2016 he resigned as minister and left the Socialist party. He founded the party "En Marche!" (On The Move!) and announced his candidacy for the presidency. That is why many representatives of the Socialist Party consider him to be a traitor.
However, in light of the left's weakness, the 39-year-old has become a beacon of hope for those who do not want to see the conservative Catholic Fillon or the right-wing Le Pen in the Elysee Palace. And now, even prominent Socialists, such as former presidential candidate Segolene Royal, stand behind him. Macron wants to reform the EU and revive the French-German friendship and emphatically praises Chancellor Angela Merkel's refugee policy.
Marine Le Pen's policy of un-demonizing the right has made the National Front (FN) socially acceptable in mainstream society. Nonetheless, the party platforms are still at the far right end of the political spectrum.
Like Fillon however, Le Pen has also been hit by the fake jobs scandal. Police raided Front National offices to determine whether the party misused EU funding to pay staff for fictional jobs.
Although polls give her little chance of winning the second round of voting, no scenario is off the table after Brexit and Trump. The Fillon scandal could play into her hands and her supporters remain optimistic.
Once a distant fifth in the running for the French presidency, the Communist-backed candidate's trademark quick wit and eloquent anti-capitalist discourse delivered over two televised debates have catapulted him into third in the polls, according to surveys.
He hopes to profit from the center-left's disarray, but may split votes with socialist Hamon. Supported by the French Communist party, Melenchon advocates a shorter work week and climate protection.
The sudden surge in popularity has seen the firebrand leftist reportedly overtake conservative Francois Fillon, once considered the frontrunner, and to within touching distance of far-right leader Marine Le Pen and centrist Emmanuel Macron.
Jean-Luc Melenchon has seen his popularity surge recentlyImage: Reuters/R. Duvignau
Benoit Hamon
The Socialist candidate surprised everyone by beating Manuel Valls to gain his party's candidacy. The former minister of education is considered to be a sharp critic of President Hollande and stands for the leftward shift of French Socialists.
Hamon wants to raise the minimum wage, abolish the liberalization of labor laws, legalize cannabis use and create 37,000 teaching jobs. Political commentators in France consider Hamon's stance to be utopian. Polls predict that he will garner around 8 percent support in the first round of the presidential elections.
