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French Presidential Election Draws Record Turnout

MELISSA BLOCK, HOST:

With all the talk out of Europe today, one more number caught our ear, 80. That's the percentage of registered voters in France who cast a ballot yesterday.

AUDIE CORNISH, HOST:

In Greece, it was a far lower turnout, 65 percent. And in Germany, elections in the country's northern most state, drew 56 percent.

BLOCK: That number is much more in line with U.S. turnout. In 2008, when Senator Obama became President Obama, 58 percent of voting-age Americans cast ballots, far short of French standards. But by American standards, it was the biggest turnout for a presidential election in four decades. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.

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