Macron, Le Pen confirmed winners in France's 1st round of presidential election

France's Constitutional Council announced on Wednesday the official results of the first round of the country's presidential election, confirming Emmanuel Macron and Marine Le Pen as winners.

From a total of 48,747,876 registered voters, 35,923,707 have voted, which represents an abstention rate of 26.31 percent, said Laurent Fabius, president of the council.

Incumbent President Emmanuel Macron won 9,783,058 votes, or 27.85 percent of valid ballots cast and his rival, far-right candidate Marine Le Pen won 8,133,828 votes, or 23.15 percent.

The runoff vote on April 24 will be between Macron and Le Pen, Fabius said.