A voter displays her ballot at a poll
station in Clichy, near Paris, Fance, May 6, 2007,(Xinhua
Photo)
PARIS, May 6 (Xinhua) -- Voter turnout in France's second round presidential vote was 34.11 percent by mid-day Sunday, the highest in three decades, according to the Interior Ministry.
Voter turnout in the second round in 2002 was 26.2 percent.
The voter turnout rate on Sunday was also higher than the first round held on April 22, which was 31.21 percent. If the momentum is maintained, the second round voter turnout rate may well surpass the 83.77 percent in the first round, which itself was almost a record high.
Some 43.5 million voters on mainland France went to the polls in good weather to choose their new president. They have to choose between conservative Nicolas Sarkozy and Socialist Segolene Royal.
The winner on Sunday will succeed 74-year-old Jacques Chirac, who has ruled the country for 12 years.
Opinion polls released prior to a media blackout by Friday had consistently put Sarkozy ahead of Royal, who is bidding to become France's first woman head of state.
But Sunday's vote might not be a foregone conclusion as a high proportion of centrist voters were hesitant. In addition, how many supporters of far right veteran Jean-Marie Le Pen would follow his advice of massive abstentions remains to be seen.
Voters in France's overseas territories and expatriates living in the Americas cast their ballots a day earlier than the mainland.
The results of Sunday's vote will not be known until all polling stations close at 8 p.m. (1800 GMT).
According to French media, the authorities have beefed up security in Paris and its suburbs to prevent possible riots in case of a victory by Sarkozy, who supports tougher controls on immigration. Some 3,000 riot police have been put on alert.
Royal warned Friday that a Sarkozy victory might spark fresh violence in the high-immigrant suburbs where riots took place in 2005. Sarkozy dismissed the gloomy prediction, describing it as "outrageous."
Segolene Royal, France's Socialist Party
presidential candidate, exits the voting booth after casting her ballot in
the second round vote at a polling station in Melle, south-western France
May 6, 2007.(Xinhua/Reuters Photo) Photo Gallery
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Nicolas Sarkozy, France's UMP political party
presidential candidate, exits the voting booth before casting his ballot
in the second round vote at a polling station in Neuilly-sur-Seine, near
Paris, May 6, 2007. (Xinhua/Reuters Photo) Photo Gallery
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PARIS, May 6 (Xinhua) -- Voters in mainland
France went to poll stations across the country on Sunday to choose a new
president in a tight run-off race, which pits right-winger Nicolas Sarkozy
against Segolene Royal, a woman candidate of the left-wing Socialist Party.
The poll booths opened at 8 a.m. (0600 GMT) and will
close at 8p.m. (1800 GMT), with first unofficial results from exit polls
expected soon afterwards. Full story
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