Polls open in France's runoff presidential election

A person holds a ballot as the voting started in the second round of 2017 French presidential election in Marseille, France, May 7, 2017. [Photo/Agencies]

PARIS - Polling stations opened on France's European mainland on Sunday for a decisive round of the presidential election between centrist candidate Emmanuel Macron and far-rightist Marine Le Pen.

More than 66,000 polling stations in the French European mainland opened at 08:00 am local time (0600 GMT) and are scheduled to close at 20:00 pm (1800 GMT) in big cities, while the rest will close at 19:00 (1700 GMT).

Nearly 47 million voters are expected to cast their ballots on Sunday.

French voters in overseas territories casted their votes on Saturday, but the results will be only known after all votes are casted on the mainland.