Voting in France: Paper ballots, in person, hand-counted

French voters in Sunday’s presidential election will use the same system that’s been used for generations: paper ballots that are cast in person and counted by hand. Despite periodic calls for more flexibility or modernization, France doesn’t do mail-in voting, early voting or use voting machines en masse like the United States.

President Emmanuel Macron is the front-runner, though he is facing a tough challenge from far-right leader Marine Le Pen and voter uncertainty: An unprecedented proportion of people told pollsters in recent days that they were unsure who they would vote for...