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Long queues were spotted at Botanic Gardens MRT on Sunday (Apr. 10), which initially confused one Singaporean TikTok user.
The user, @laviecity, who uploaded a video of the queue to TikTok, later realised those in line were queuing to vote in the French presidential election at the French embassy, located just opposite Botanic Gardens MRT.
@laviecity La France à Singapour.#franceelection🇨🇵 ♬ original sound - Laviecity
Queue stretched from embassy to MRT exit
According to the video, the queue appeared to have snaked from the entrance of the French embassy, underneath the sheltered walkways near Botanic Gardens MRT, and to the exit of the MRT.
The TikTok user explained that they were confused about the queue at first, as they had wanted to go to the taxi stand near the MRT.
A sign near the MRT station clued the TikTok user in regarding what the queue was for.
Translation: Please do not cross. Please take the covered walkway.
Queue was for first round of presidential elections
Sunday (Apr. 10) was the first round of the 2022 French presidential elections, which saw incumbent Emmanuel Macron winning by about 3 percentage points over his rival, Marine Le Pen.
The two will face off again in the second round of the elections on Apr. 24, which will decide France's next president.
The French embassy in Singapore welcomed French citizens to vote in the presidential election by placing their ballot between 8am to 7pm on Sunday.
The French embassy also provided live updates on its Twitter page on expected wait times.
The longest wait time reported was just 13 minutes, at 8:37am.
By 11:22am, the queue outside the embassy had subsided, with only a few minutes wait inside the embassy.
After around noon, there were no more queues for the rest of the day, according to the embassy's Twitter feed.
Some Twitter users praised the embassy for how organised the voting process was.
There are about 20,000-odd French nationals in Singapore.
Voting is not compulsory in the French presidential election.
Macron faces off Le Pen again
Apr. 24's presidential election will be the second time Macron and Le Pen will be facing off against each other for president.
In 2017, Macron defeated Le Pen with 66.9 per cent of the vote, compared to her 33.1 per cent, according to The New York Times.
"Nothing is decided", Macron told his supporters, urging voters to continue to rally for him on the Apr. 24 election, Reuters reported.
The election is expected to be a very close one, with Macron enjoying a thin margin over Le Pen, according to early polls.
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All photos via Laviecity/TikTok