Paris — France has voted in the first round of a bitterly fought presidential election that is crucial to the future of Europe and a closely watched test of voters’ anger with the political establishment. Over 50,000 police backed by elite units of the French security services patrolled the streets on Sunday, less than three days after a suspected Islamist gunman shot dead a policeman and wounded two others on the Champs-Élysées. Voters had to decide whether to back a pro-EU centrist newcomer, a scandal-ridden veteran conservative who wants to slash public spending, a far-left eurosceptic admirer of Fidel Castro or a woman who would be France’s first female president and who would shut borders and ditch the euro. The outcome will show whether the populist tide that led to Britain’s vote to leave the EU and Donald Trump’s election in the US is still rising or starting to ebb. A high level of indecision adds to nervousness. Hanan Fanidi, a financial project manager, was still unsure a...
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