France, March 16 -- More than 904,000 candidates are vying for elected posts in roughly 35,000 municipalities across the country, from major cities to villages with only a few dozen inhabitants.

The elections are held over two rounds on consecutive Sundays.

In more than 90 percent of communes, the mayor was expected to be elected in the first round.

But races in many bigger cities are expected to go into second rounds, with parties rushing to strike deals and form alliances.

A 10 percent threshold to qualify for the 22 March runoffs means three-, four-, or even five-way races are possible in the second round, making their outcome hard to predict.

Pollsters said turnout on Sunday was the country's lowest, excluding the last local poll...