section_path: Results/Voting instructions and withdrawals/After the first round
section_name: After the first round
paragraph_text: After the first round
  
  In a press release after the first round, Ensemble announced that they would call upon third-placed candidates to withdraw in constituencies where other candidates "with shared values" were able to beat the RN, including the possibility of desisting in favour of selected LFI candidates. Bergé, interviewed after the first round, reaffirmed that candidates would withdraw to block the RN except in the case that it might help to elect an LFI deputy, with other parties in the alliance sharing a similar line of case-by-case withdrawals in runoffs with LFI candidates, but Attal also emphasised that withdrawals did not constitute endorsements and that the alliance would not officially issue any voting instructions, even if individual candidates did.
  
  A story published by Le Monde on 5 July suggested that Attal spearheaded the anti-RN blockade to Macron's chagrin, with the latter annoyed by Attal's relative independence. Macron also called Ensemble candidates to pressure them to not drop out up until the last moment, with his inner circle reportedly becoming more comfortable with the idea of an RN victory even as Attal warned about the dangers of the far-right coming to power.
  
  Mélenchon ultimately announced that all third-placed candidates of the New Popular Front who advanced to the second round in constituencies where the RN placed first would stand down. In duels between left-of-centre candidates, the PS called for voters to support the higher-placed candidate, as well as for the withdrawal of lower-placed candidates, a view also echoed by the leadership of the French Communist Party.
  
  The Republicans ultimately chose not to give any voting instructions for the second round.
  
  According to RN deputy Sébastien Chenu, a number of deputies, including those belonging to Ensemble, reached out to ask third-placed RN candidates to withdraw in order to block candidates of the left from winning in the second round, a request which Chenu indicated the party's leadership would consider.
  
  According to the classifications of Le Monde, 89 three-way and 2 four-way runoffs remained after the publicly announced withdrawals of 134 NFP-supported and 82 Ensemble-supported candidates. All but 5 NFP candidates withdrew in races where they placed 3rd or below in the first round and RN-backed candidates also qualified, compared to 15 Ensemble candidates (of which 9 were in races where LFI qualified) and 12 The Republicans or miscellaneous right candidates (of which 5 were in races where LFI qualified) in the same situation. Two candidates who also initially registered for the second round – Dominique Despras in Rhône's 8th constituency and France Moreau in Maine-et-Loire's 5th constituency – changed their mind after finding out about other candidates' registrations in the second round. Because they were unable to officially withdraw at this point, they declined to submit any of their paper ballots, meaning that voters did not find paper ballots with the name of either candidate at polling stations.
  
  In a press release after the first round, Ensemble announced that they would call upon third-placed candidates to withdraw in constituencies where other candidates "with shared values" were able to beat the RN, including the possibility of desisting in favour of selected LFI candidates. Bergé, interviewed after the first round, reaffirmed that candidates would withdraw to block the RN except in the case that it might help to elect an LFI deputy, with other parties in the alliance sharing a similar line of case-by-case withdrawals in runoffs with LFI candidates, but Attal also emphasised that withdrawals did not constitute endorsements and that the alliance would not officially issue any voting instructions, even if individual candidates did.
  
  A story published by Le Monde on 5 July suggested that Attal spearheaded the anti-RN blockade to Macron's chagrin, with the latter annoyed by Attal's relative independence. Macron also called Ensemble candidates to pressure them to not drop out up until the last moment, with his inner circle reportedly becoming more comfortable with the idea of an RN victory even as Attal warned about the dangers of the far-right coming to power.
  
  Mélenchon ultimately announced that all third-placed candidates of the New Popular Front who advanced to the second round in constituencies where the RN placed first would stand down. In duels between left-of-centre candidates, the PS called for voters to support the higher-placed candidate, as well as for the withdrawal of lower-placed candidates, a view also echoed by the leadership of the French Communist Party.
  
  The Republicans ultimately chose not to give any voting instructions for the second round.
  
  According to RN deputy Sébastien Chenu, a number of deputies, including those belonging to Ensemble, reached out to ask third-placed RN candidates to withdraw in order to block candidates of the left from winning in the second round, a request which Chenu indicated the party's leadership would consider.
  
  According to the classifications of Le Monde, 89 three-way and 2 four-way runoffs remained after the publicly announced withdrawals of 134 NFP-supported and 82 Ensemble-supported candidates. All but 5 NFP candidates withdrew in races where they placed 3rd or below in the first round and RN-backed candidates also qualified, compared to 15 Ensemble candidates (of which 9 were in races where LFI qualified) and 12 The Republicans or miscellaneous right candidates (of which 5 were in races where LFI qualified) in the same situation. Two candidates who also initially registered for the second round – Dominique Despras in Rhône's 8th constituency and France Moreau in Maine-et-Loire's 5th constituency – changed their mind after finding out about other candidates' registrations in the second round. Because they were unable to officially withdraw at this point, they declined to submit any of their paper ballots, meaning that voters did not find paper ballots with the name of either candidate at polling stations.
  
  In a press release after the first round, Ensemble announced that they would call upon third-placed candidates to withdraw in constituencies where other candidates "with shared values" were able to beat the RN, including the possibility of desisting in favour of selected LFI candidates. Bergé, interviewed after the first round, reaffirmed that candidates would withdraw to block the RN except in the case that it might help to elect an LFI deputy, with other parties in the alliance sharing a similar line of case-by-case withdrawals in runoffs with LFI candidates, but Attal also emphasised that withdrawals did not constitute endorsements and that the alliance would not officially issue any voting instructions, even if individual candidates did.
  
  A story published by Le Monde on 5 July suggested that Attal spearheaded the anti-RN blockade to Macron's chagrin, with the latter annoyed by Attal's relative independence. Macron also called Ensemble candidates to pressure them to not drop out up until the last moment, with his inner circle reportedly becoming more comfortable with the idea of an RN victory even as Attal warned about the dangers of the far-right coming to power.
  
  Mélenchon ultimately announced that all third-placed candidates of the New Popular Front who advanced to the second round in constituencies where the RN placed first would stand down. In duels between left-of-centre candidates, the PS called for voters to support the higher-placed candidate, as well as for the withdrawal of lower-placed candidates, a view also echoed by the leadership of the French Communist Party.
  
  The Republicans ultimately chose not to give any voting instructions for the second round.
  
  According to RN deputy Sébastien Chenu, a number of deputies, including those belonging to Ensemble, reached out to ask third-placed RN candidates to withdraw in order to block candidates of the left from winning in the second round, a request which Chenu indicated the party's leadership would consider.
  
  According to the classifications of Le Monde, 89 three-way and 2 four-way runoffs remained after the publicly announced withdrawals of 134 NFP-supported and 82 Ensemble-supported candidates. All but 5 NFP candidates withdrew in races where they placed 3rd or below in the first round and RN-backed candidates also qualified, compared to 15 Ensemble candidates (of which 9 were in races where LFI qualified) and 12 The Republicans or miscellaneous right candidates (of which 5 were in races where LFI qualified) in the same situation. Two candidates who also initially registered for the second round – Dominique Despras in Rhône's 8th constituency and France Moreau in Maine-et-Loire's 5th constituency – changed their mind after finding out about other candidates' registrations in the second round. Because they were unable to officially withdraw at this point, they declined to submit any of their paper ballots, meaning that voters did not find paper ballots with the name of either candidate at polling stations.