Turnout is high as the far right seeks to take power in key elections.

France is holding one of its most important elections in years, and while the far right is hoping for a historic victory, the political deadlock is likely to have a far greater impact.

This is the first time that the anti-immigrant National Rally (RN) led by Marine Le Pen and Jordan Bardella has a realistic chance of running a government and taking full control of the National Assembly.

But after the RN won the first round of voting last Sunday, more than 200 of its rivals abstained, giving other candidates a better chance of beating the far right.

Polls closed at 8pm (6pm GMT) and by noon the turnout was 26.63 per cent, a slight increase from the first round and the highest for a parliamentary vote since 1981.

Whatever the outcome, it seems unlikely that President Emmanuel Macron will find it easy to get out of this predicament.

Four weeks ago, he said early voting was the responsible solution to mark the RN’s victory in the European elections, and he did so minutes after the 28-year-old party leader, Jordan Bardella, called for him to do so.

It is not yet clear whether the president will give another speech after the polls close on Sunday evening and the exit polls are in.

The second round of voting comes as a shock to a country that is preparing to host the Paris Olympics on July 26. Security was already tight, and 30,000 police officers were deployed during a period of heightened political tensions.

There are fears of violence in Paris and other French cities regardless of the vote outcome, and a planned protest outside the National Assembly building on Sunday evening has been banned.

Sunday’s vote in Dreux, a historic old town on the way to Normandy, took place on the same day the Olympic flame passed. “For us, it’s more than an election,” says Pauline of the tourist office.

The firework has been travelling across France for nearly two months, and Dreux will host a weekend-long festival to mark its arrival.

“Macron should have waited until after the Olympics,” Dreux resident Antoine told the BBC.

Veteran commentator Nicolas Barberes believes the president has not just ruined his term, but has opened the gates of power to the far right. “He has compromised the management of the 2024 Paris Olympics, which could be the final blow to France’s credibility and image,” he wrote in Le Point on the eve of the vote.

The constituency that includes Dreux is one to watch in the second round of voting in this election.

Candidates like Marine Le Pen and Jordan Bardella have already won more than half of the votes and taken their seats, but 500 other contests are being decided in runoffs, most of which involve two or three candidates.

Former Conservative cabinet minister Olivier Marlix lost to far-right candidate Olivier Dubois in the first round. Both men advanced to the second round, along with the left-wing New Popular Front candidate who came second nationally.

But Nadia Faberis withdrew from the race “to prevent a National Unity” after narrowly losing third place to her conservative rival.

A voter named Morgan was skeptical that whoever won would see any change in the town.

Across France, 217 people withdrew, including 130 Popular Front candidates and 81 candidates from the presidential Ensemble coalition.

And that dramatically changed the balance of this crucial general election.

There are 577 seats in the French parliament, and projections after Sunday’s first round had the RN likely to win an absolute majority of 289 seats. But final polls on Friday showed 205-210 seats as the maximum, which is far from being attainable.

The parties seeking to block the RN’s victory range from the radical left, communists and greens to Macron’s centrists and conservatives. They say they are defending the country from the extreme policies of the far right.

National Rally weakens many policies, but still seeks to give French citizens “national priority” over immigrants for jobs and housing. It aims to eliminate automatic citizenship rights for children of immigrants who have spent five years in France between the ages of 11 and 18. It also seeks to ban dual nationals from holding dozens of sensitive jobs.

Polls aren’t necessarily reliable. All 500 constituencies are local contests and voters don’t follow party recommendations.

If the RN wins more than 250 seats, it could seek allies to form a minority government. President Macron’s party has had to settle for similar numbers until it was frustrated by its limited ability to pass reforms through parliament.

Armin Steinbach, a professor at HEC Business School in Paris, believes that such a RN government is impossible. He believes it would soon face a vote of no confidence and that under the constitution France cannot hold new elections for at least a year.

Another potential scenario is a “grand coalition” that includes most other parties except the radical French Independence Party (LFI), which Macron’s coalition and conservatives describe as extremist.

While the idea has gained some traction recently, Green Party leader Marine Tondelière has made it clear that whatever happens, “there will be no Macronite prime minister.”

There is also talk of a technocratic government, similar to the one that ran Italy during the eurozone debt crisis, but instead of selecting experts from outside the political establishment, it could include politicians with proven expertise in specific areas.

In any case, France is entering uncharted territory, says Jean-Yves Dormagen of the Cluster 17 research institute.

President Macron himself has stated that he will not resign and will serve out the final three years of his term.

“We are going to make Macron a boiteux president who has created this chaos,” Professor Steinbach told the BBC. “And he is losing his legitimacy.”

France’s immediate concern is what kind of government will be in place during the Olympics.

Constitutional expert Benjamin Morel believes the president could form a national coalition government by the end of the Paris Olympics.

“The parties will then have time to reach an agreement between now and the start of the school year and the next budget,” he told Le Figaro.