Mon, April 23, 2012
PARIS, April 22 (Xinhua) -- Polling turnout for the first round of French presidential election in 2012 stood at 70.59 percent at 5 p.m. local time (1500 GMT), slightly lower than 73.87 percent at the same time in 2007, the French Interior Ministry said on Sunday.
However, the turnout rate has already surpassed previous surveys, as a recent Ifop poll suggested that 32 percent of voters could turn their backs on candidates in the first round.
Some 44.3 million French voters are registered as eligible to cast their ballots in 85,000 polling stations, which will close at 8 p.m. (1800 GMT), when results of the first round would be released.
The latest available Ifop survey on Friday showed that socialist candidate Francois Hollande, who would run neck-and-neck with incumbent President Nicolas Sarkozy in the first round, with each of the top two candidates enjoying 27 percent of votes, would be a comfortable winner in May 6 run-off.
