FRANCE is preparing itself for a historic presidential election tomorrow that will see Marine Le Pen face off against Emmanuel Macron.

It is the first time neither of the two major parties – the Socialists and Republicans – will have a candidate in the final round since the end of World War II.

5 Emmanuel Macron is the front runner going into the final round of the presidential election Credit: Reuters

5 The French people will decided between him and Marine Le Pen of the Front National Credit: Rex Features

Pundits and pollsters expect a comfortable win for Macron, an independent centrist, over Le Pen, leader of France’s far-right Front National, after an election campaign that has left France bitterly divided.

Macron won the first round two weeks ago with 24% against Le Pen’s 21% while Republican candidate François Fillon and hard-left candidate Jean-Luc Mélenchon took 20% of the vote each.

In the French system the two candidates with the largest share of the vote in the first round go through to face each other in the final round while the rest are knocked out.

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Their voters then have to decide which of the two candidates they will vote for in the final round, if they decide to vote at all.

Voters who backed one of the two candidates who made it through to the final round can switch allegiances if they want to but this isn’t very common.

Fillon publicly backed Macron, 39, after finishing third in the first round and polls have predicted around half of his voters will support the former investment banker but a third of his supporters are expected to back Le Pen, 48, with the rest abstaining.

5 Supporters and members of the media gathered outside Mr Macron’s home in Le Touquet Credit: Reuters

5 Government workers erecting voting booths in Saint Cloud just outside of Paris Credit: AP:Associated Press

Despite being much further to the left than the centre-right Fillon, Mélenchon has refused to publicly back the centrist Macron although his campaign team have urged voters not to back Le Pen.

Research by pollsters at Ifop suggest half of Mélenchon’s voters will back Macron while 10% will opt for Le Pen with the rest abstaining.

The two candidates spent today visiting cathedrals at opposite ends of the country as the 47million strong electorate made up their minds before going to the ballot box tomorrow.

Mr Macron, a former economics minister in the Socialist government who set up the social movement En Marche! barely a year ago, visited the south-western town of Rodez where he met supporters before popping into the 16th century cathedral.

5 French citizens lining up to vote in the final round today in Montreal, Canada Credit: Getty Images

Ms Le Pen visited the 800-year-old cathedral at Reims in northern France where 25 French kings were crowned during the Middle Ages.

She was met with boos and protesters and after being shepherded into a waiting car by bodyguards, she tweeted: “Monsieur Macron’s supporters act with violence everywhere, even in ... a symbolic and sacred place. No dignity.”

The staunch right-winger was criticised for her personal attacks against Mr Macron during the final televised debate this week with pollsters suggesting she had lost ground to her rival since the end of the first round.

Two separate polls had Mr Macron on track to win with 61.5 per cent and 62 per cent of the vote in the final round.

However, he found himself in crisis on the final day of the campaign after thousands of his emails were leaked online following a suspected cyber-attack.

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