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French President frontrunner Hollande casts vote in final round | The second round of polling that
will decide the next French president between Nicolas Sarkozy and Francois Hollande
started in mainland France on Sunday morning. Socialist challenger Hollande cast
his vote at 10:30 a.m. local time (0830 GMT) in Tulle, central France , where
he served as the mayor from 2001 to 2008. Shaking hands and taking pictures, Hollande
spent generous time with supporters and journalists before casting his ballot
following a line like everybody else. The Left Front leader Jean-Luc Melenchon,
who finished forth in the first round, cast his ballot earlier in the day. The
incumbent president Sarkozy was expected to vote in the 16th arrondisment (district)
in Paris at around 11:30 a.m. local time (0930 GMT). Polling stations opened at
8:00 a.m. local time (0600 GMT) as France 's 46 million registered voters chose
between the right-wing incumbent president and the Socialist challenger. Xinhua
correspondents in Paris 17th district saw more than a dozen voters waiting in
the drizzle outside polling stations to cast their ballots early in the morning.
"I voted for Hollande," Alain, a registered voter in the 17th arrondisment told
Xinhua," Sarkozy will lose because his behavioral problem, while Hollande will
bring social justice and coherence to France ." Another voter, Pierre, said that
Sarkozy "lost the game long time ago." However, the voter was not confident about
a Hollande administration either. A young man who voted for Sarkozy said he hoped
that the incumbent would "help the country get out of the crisis." Early polling
in French overseas territories were held on Saturday due to time differences,
starting from the small French islands of St. Pierre and Miquelon, off the east
coast of Canada . Results of the polling will be announced after all the voting
booths in mainland France close at 8 p.m. local time (1800 GMT). Latest polls
by Friday night when the election campaigns officially ended, showed that support
for Sarkozy slightly raised to 48 percent, while Hollande still enjoying a 4 points
lead. The first round election on April 22 has seen Hollande beat Sarkozy with
28.63 percent of the vote, while the latter gathered 27.18 percent, with a turnout
rate of more than 79 percent.
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