PARIS—Voting began in France's presidential election on Sunday, with right-wing front-runner Nicolas Sarkozy widely expected to face a run-off vote next month against Socialist Segolene Royal.
Sarkozy, a former interior and finance minister, had a narrow lead over Royal in most opinion polls before the end of campaigning but neither was on course to obtain an absolute majority, making a run-off all but certain on May 6.
Surprises cannot be ruled out because the surveys suggested up to a third of the 44.5 million voters were not sure of their choice, giving hope to third-placed centrist Francois Bayrou and veteran far-right leader Jean-Marie Le Pen.
"Anything can happen!" Le Parisien newspaper declared on its front page. Le Journal du Dimanche ran the headline "Gripping!".
Royal, 53, is hoping to become France's first woman president but trailed Sarkozy, 52, throughout the campaign.
Campaigning was dominated by calls for change after 12 years of rule by Jacques Chirac and by economic concerns such as high unemployment, especially among alienated youths who rioted in deprived housing estates less than two years ago.
But the campaign has also focused as much on personality as policy.
Sarkozy, the son of a Hungarian immigrant, has taken a tough line on crime and illegal immigration and is considered the most business-friendly candidate by financial markets. He is portrayed as dangerously authoritarian by his rivals.
"We need a new Renaissance," Sarkozy told election rallies.
First Woman President?
Royal vows to raise the monthly minimum wage and pensions and to create 500,000 jobs for young people, but says she will not raise overall taxes. Opponents say she is incompetent.
She has promised to build a "fairer and stronger" France, in which all citizens would be equal: "A France that does not discriminate against a job seeker because he does not have the right skin colour, the right name, the right address."
Bayrou, 55, hopes voters disillusioned with the traditional right-left split in French politics will turn to him in the hope of securing a real break with the past.
Le Pen, 78, shocked France in the last election in 2002 by eliminating the Socialist candidate in the first round, only to lose a second round run-off against Chirac.
Voting in the first round of the election began in some of France's overseas territories on Saturday. The first opinion polls indicating a result are expected at the close of voting at 8.00 p.m..
The BVA and Ipsos research institutes on Friday showed Royal narrowing the gap on Sarkozy but forecast he would go on to win the May 6 run-off. A CSA poll for Le Parisien daily made the race a dead heat and put Le Pen in third place ahead of Bayrou.
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