Macron defeats Le Pen also promises to unite a divided France

Emmanuel Macron won five more years as French President after a convincing victory over rival Marine Le Pen, who still garners the highest right-wing vote.

He won 58.55% to 41.45%, a more significant profit than expected.

The center's leader told cheering supporters at the Eiffel Tower that he would be "president of all now that the election was over."

Le Pen, 53, said his significant vote was still a win despite the loss.

His National Rally ideas have reached new heights; he told his supporters. But right-wing rival Eric Zemmour said he ultimately failed, as his father had preceded him: "This is the eighth time the Le Pen name has been beaten."

Marine Le Pen took over the party her father, Jean-Marie Le Pen, founded in 2011 to give her the right to vote. She won more than 13 million votes on Sunday on a platform of tax cuts to combat the high cost of living, a ban on wearing the Muslim headscarf in public, and a referendum on immigration control.

"Answers must be found for the anger and division that has driven many of our colleagues to choose the extreme right," Macron said in his victory speech. "This will be the responsibility of me and those around me." More than one in three voters did not vote for a candidate. Turnout was just under 72%, the lowest in a presidential election since 1969, and more than three million people cast corrupt or blank ballots.

Most of France is on holiday on election day, but the low turnout also reflects voters' apathy, who complain that no candidate is representing them. Voters who tell they would cast a blank ballot told the news they wanted to punish the incumbent President.

Anti-Macron protesters rallied in several cities, including Paris, Rennes, Toulouse, and Nantes, refusing to accept the results.

In his speech, the 44-year-old Macron said his government should "react to their election by refusing to make a choice."

The officer of the extreme left, Jean-Luc Melenchon, who was easily beaten by Ms. Le Pen in the 1st round 2 weeks earlier, was devastating for both candidates.

While the good news is that France has refused to trust Marin Le Pen, he said Macron was elected worse than any other president. "It's swimming in a sea of ​​abstentions and empty, corrupt ballots."