By Agency StaffParis — Far-right leader Marine Le Pen could still win France’s presidential election next year despite an appeal court this week upholding her conviction for embezzling EU funds, according to two opinion polls.Much can change before the first round of voting on April 18 next year, and the pollsters stressed that the findings are a snapshot of current voting intentions rather than a forecast.Both surveys, by Ifop pollsters for LCI and Le Figaro and Toluna Harris Interactive for M6 and RTL, show Le Pen leading the first round and being elected in the run-off on May 2, as did most opinion polls before the verdict.The polls were carried out after the 57-year-old veteran far-right leader announced she would run in the election, following the appeal court’s ruling that found her guilty of having misused EU money to pay party staff but reduced an election ban, allowing her to stand.Ifop projects the anti-immigration, eurosceptic National Rally leader to secure 36% in the first round, up from 32%-34% in previous surveys. None of her rivals would win more than 19%, while the Harris Interactive poll produced similar results.Both pollsters also project Le Pen to win the run-off. Her narrowest victory would come against former prime minister Édouard Philippe, a centre-right candidate, where the Harris Interactive poll gives her 49% — within the margin of error.Formidable candidateBoth pollsters project former prime minister Gabriel Attal to secure 45% against Le Pen in a run-off. Against hard-left leader Jean-Luc Melenchon, Le Pen would win comfortably, with Melenchon attracting only about a third of the vote.Reacting to the surveys, Socialist Party leader Olivier Faure said Le Pen is a “formidable candidate”. The Socialists, and many other parties, say it is shameful for Le Pen to run despite her conviction. She has appealed the conviction, and the highest court, the Cour de Cassation, has said it aimed to give a final verdict before the election.Le Pen was greeted by cheers and boos as she launched her presidential campaign on Wednesday. As she shook hands in the street market of La Flèche in the Loire Valley, in western France, some jeered, “Give the money back!” and “Go to jail!” while others chanted, “Marine, President!” — a sign of the tensions that may lie ahead.Another poll, published by Elabe pollsters for BFM TV on Wednesday, pointed to some of the challenges facing Le Pen. Seven out of 10 voters don’t agree with her statements that she is innocent. And while a wide majority of RN voters back her decision to run in the election, there are still 32% of RN voters who don’t.