France, March 15 -- Six years after the last municipal elections, disrupted by the Covid-19 pandemic, the French are called to the polls on two consecutive Sundays to elect their councillors, who will in turn choose the mayors of the country's 34,875 municipalities.

Polling stations opened at 0700 GMT across mainland France for the first round, with voting beginning earlier in the French overseas territories of New Caledonia, Reunion and Mayotte.

Polling stations will close at 8 p.m., at which time the first results can be published.

The vote takes place amid the larger context of French presidential elections slated for next year.

President Emmanuel Macron will have served the maximum two consecutive five-year terms when el...