The French turned out Sunday in fairly large numbers for a vote tipped to make Nicolas Sarkozy the latest European leader ousted by economic crisis and Francois Hollande the country’s first Socialist President in nearly two decades.
The last opinion polls published put Mr Hollande ahead — but with Mr Sarkozy narrowing the gap slightly in the closing straight — as voters punish the right-wing incumbent for failing to slash stubbornly high unemployment.
A victory for Mr Hollande would mean a shift in direction for the European Union as the Socialist has promised to renegotiate the bloc’s fiscal pact to make it focus more on growth.