Counting staff sort through ballots at a counting centre in the French overseas Collectivity of Saint Pierre and Miquelon , on June 11 , 2017 as people vote to choose members of the French National Assembly, the country's lower house of parliament, in the first round of country's legislative elections. (AFP PHOTO/STRINGER)

PARIS, June 18 (Xinhua) -- By noon time (1000 GMT), turnout of France's second round of legislative election was at 17.75 percent, down from 19.24 percent recorded in the first round last week, official figures showed Sunday.

According to the interior ministry, the figure was lower than that of the parliamentary competition in 2012, which stood at 21.41 percent at noon.

The country's opinion pollsters estimated that one out of two voters to abstain on Sunday, making the turnout rate hitting a historic low level which mirrored the fatigue of French voters after a long electioneering marathon which started on Nov. 2016 with primaries contests.

More than 47 million voters are expected to cast their ballots in 67,000 polling stations across the country. In French mainland, ballot stations will close at 6 p.m. (1600 GMT), with polling stations in big cities to open two hours longer.