48.7mn citizens registered to vote in France's Presidential polls

Paris, March 25 (IANS) Some 48.7 million French citizens have registered to vote in this April's presidential election, the French National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies (INSEE) has said.

According to the institute on Thursday, 47.05 million people registered on municipal lists, 1.43 million registered overseas on consular lists, and 0.22 million registered in the French overseas territory of New Caledonia, Xinhua news agency reported.

In metropolitan France and the 13 French overseas territories, 95 per cent of the citizens who are eligible to vote are registered on municipal lists, it said.

The French Constitutional Council has validated the candidacy of 12 persons, among them Emmanuel Macron, Marine le Pen and Valerie Pecresse.

If no candidate wins the absolute majority of the votes cast in the first election round on April 10, the top two candidates will progress to a runoff vote on April 24.