Jean-Luc Melenchon — the Communist-backed far-left French presidential candidate who’s been called the French Bernie Sanders — trailed in fourth place in the first round of French elections on Sunday. Now his supporters are out in full force, on Paris’ streets and on Twitter, calling on French voters to “protest” by submitting a blank ballot or by staying home in the May 7 run-off, where independent-centrist Emmanuel Macron will face off against the far-right Marine Le Pen.

“We were asked to choose between hatred toward foreigners and the hatred toward the poor,” wrote one Twitter user following the publication of election results on Sunday, using the trending hashtag #SansMoiLe7Mai, or #WithoutMeOnMay7.

Ce matin, on nous demande de choisir entre la haine des étrangers ou la haine des pauvres. Super, tout va bien. #SansMoiLe7Mai — Thanaen (@FFThanaen) April 24, 2017

Translation: This morning, we were asked to choose between hatred toward foreigners and hatred toward the poor. Super, everything’s cool. #SansMoiLe7Mai

Demonstrations erupted across France on Sunday, with hundreds of anarchists and anti-fascists hoisting banners that read, “Neither banker nor racist!” In Paris, Nantes, and Antes hundreds of angry demonstrators smashed shop windows, threw Molotov cocktails, and clashed with riot police while chanting that the cities need to “rise up — neither Macron nor Le Pen!”

Nous ne voterons pas pour #LePen.

Nous ne voterons pas pour #Macron.

Qu'ils aillent tous se faire foutre !#SansMoiLe7Mai — Bassounov (@Bassounov) April 24, 2017

Translation: We will not vote for #LePen. We will not vote for #Macron. Let them go to hell! #SansMoiLe7Mai

"Ni patrie ni patron, ni Le Pen ni Macron " tagué sur la Place de la République par l'extrême gauche#NuitDesBarricades#SansMoiLe7Mai pic.twitter.com/YyS35i4QCK — EL ЯAFA ن (@IsrafilElRafa) April 23, 2017

Translation: “Neither the motherland nor the big boss, neither Le Pen nor Macron” tagged on the Place de la Republique by the extreme left #NightOfTheBarricades #SansMoiLe7Mai

There was major concern ahead of Sunday’s vote of a low voter turnout, which a number of polling companies warned could reach a record 30 percent. Many said such a phenomenon would have likely benefited the anti-immigration and anti-European Union Le Pen, whose popularity surged along with Euroscepticism and populist movements across the continent. Le Pen voters’ vocal confidence in their candidate stood in stark contrast to the millions of disenchanted French people who told pollsters that they remained undecided, some even as they entered their polling stations, local television reported.

On election day, voter participation was at 77.7 percent, the lowest in a French presidential election for 15 years, according to the Interior Ministry.

Leaders of the defeated right-wing and left-wing parties called on their constituents to forge a “Republican Front” to block Le Pen from reaching the Elysees Palace, and, by default, deliver victory to Macron next month. The strategy was last used in 2002, when more than 80 percent of voters came out to elect the unpopular presidential incumbent Jacques Chirac over Le Pen’s father, Jean-Marie.

“There is no other choice than to vote against the extreme right,” said once-favored conservative candidate Francois Fillon to his dejected followers on Sunday night. “I do not believe in abstention, especially if an extremist party is getting close to power. The National Front’s party would lead us toward chaos.”

Melenchon has not issued that message.

But Macron, who won 23.7 of the votes compared to Le Pen who clinched 21.5 percent, faces daunting challenges in the weeks ahead. The 39-year-old pro-European Union former investment banker launched his En Marche!, Onwards! only last year. At a time when candidates promote ethno-nationalism in 140-character tweets, he quotes philosophers and advocates for a free market

Stakes are even higher after Le Pen announced Monday that she would be temporarily stepping down from her National Front party in order to further its support base. It’s the latest chapter of Le Pen’s years’ long journey towards dediabolisation, or de-vilification, that aimed, apparently successfully, to scrub clean the anti-Semitic and racist taboos lingering from her party’s past, and from its original founder, her father Jean-Marie Le Pen. The “new National Front” attracted even religious minorities and disillusioned members of the working class.

Le Pen has also undoubtedly been boosted by a continued state of high security following last Friday’s terror attack, in which a French supporter of ISIS gunned down a policeman on the iconic Champs Elysees boulevard. On Tuesday, Macron, Le Pen and President Hollande attended a national memorial for the slain policeman, Xavier Jugele, 39.

Many tweeters used the hashtag to condemn the campaign for abstention as irresponsible as well as ill-informed of the real dangers that a Le Pen presidency would mean for France. Some noted a “deja-vu” with the “Bernie-or-Bust” movement in the United States, in which Bernie Sanders supporters “protested” the November presidential vote by joining the 40 percent of eligible voters who chose to stay home. The result was the upset election of Donald Trump, they warned.

@OnZeLeft #SansMoiLe7Mai est exactement comme les gens "Bernie or Bust" aux USA qui ont facilité la victoire de Trump! #DéjàVu #AvecMoiLe7Mai — (((Jpbfrance))) (@jpbfrance) April 24, 2017

Translation: # SansMoiLe7Mai is exactly like “Bernie-or-Bust” people in the USA who facilitated the victory of Trump! # DéjàVu # AvecMoiLe7Mai

#SansMoiLe7Mai, cela me rappelle les electeurs de #Sanders qui n'ont pas voté #Clinton. C'est bien d'être fier mais le prix est fort. — laurent gillard (@hankthefrench) April 24, 2017