The companies will conduct weekly polling on voting intention and preferred candidates, as well as out-of-polling-station results.

Harris Interactive said that its work with Toluna in the build up to the first and second rounds of the French presidential election, held on 10^th April and 24th April respectively, will incorporate 50 pre-election surveys with more than 1,000 people.

A further 5,000 interviews will also take place on election days, the companies said, and the polling would be covered by French news channels M6 and RTL.

Following the presidential election, Harris Interactive and Toluna will work with M6 and RTL on weekly polling for the French Legislative elections on 12^th June 12 and 19^th June. 

Frederic-Charles Petit, chief executive at Toluna, said: “We are thrilled to bring Toluna and Harris Interactive together to deliver our on-demand, real-time insights as part of this critical initiative in France’s political calendar. This is a great honour, and we look forward to delivering the accurate data the public desires.”

Jean-Daniel Lévy, senior vice-president at Harris Interactive France and director at the company’s politics and opinion department, said: “Citizens today are bombarded with massive amounts of information during the election cycle, and it is essential that they have access to quality data as they evaluate candidates and results.”