Emmanuel Macron has won the first round of the French presidential election, and far-right competitor Marine Le Pen will run against him again.
"Make no mistake," he warned the crowd of supporters, "nothing is decided."
Although he is expected to win the first round, opinion surveys indicate that the run-off might be considerably tighter.
Ms. Le Pen appealed to all non-Macron voters to join her in "restoring order to France."
Emmanuel Macron had 27.42 percent of the vote with 94 percent of the votes tallied, Marine Le Pen had 24.16 percent, and Jean-Luc Mélenchon had 21.42 percent.
Jean-Luc Mélenchon, a veteran far-left contender who polled even higher than he did five years ago, now holds the unexpected role of kingmaker.
"You must not vote for Marine Le Pen," he urged his followers, but, unlike other contenders, he did not endorse the president instead.
Mélenchon voters might swing the election if they get more than a fifth of the vote, but many of them will sit out the second round.
There were twelve contenders in the race, but only these three received more than 10% of the vote. Many voters appeared to support tactical or "useful" voting, determining that the other nine candidates had little chance of making the run-off. Several of the nine had little chance anyhow, but the 2022 presidential election will be remembered in part for the debacle that befell the Republicans and Socialists, the two ancient parties that had ruled France. They vanished almost completely, with Socialist Anne Hidalgo's vote dipping below 2%.
Valérie Pécresse was still in the campaign for the right-wing Republicans until a few months ago. Her performance was so poor that her party was barely able to claim the 5% it required to cover its election expenses.
The struggle for votes has officially begun. Marine Le Pen may depend on Eric Zemmour's followers, who voted for him in fourth place with 7% of the vote. Nicolas Dupont-Aignan, a nationalist, has also endorsed her.