Sun, May 06, 2012
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French voters at polls to decide next president

2012-05-06 08:22:12 GMT2012-05-06 16:22:12(Beijing Time)  Xinhua English

 PARIS, May 6 (Xinhua) -- The second round of voting that will decide whether the incumbent Nicolas Sarkozy or challenger Francois Hollande will become the next French president started on Sunday.

Polling stations opened at 8:00 a.m. local time (0600 GMT) as France's 46 million registered voters chose between the right-wing Sarkozy and Hollande, the Socialist challenger.

Xinhua correspondents in Paris' 17th arrondisment (district) saw more than a dozen voters waiting in the drizzle outside polling stations to cast their ballots.

"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 president would "help the country get out of the crisis."

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Although the de-facto effect on voters' decision remains to be found out by further opinion polls, Sarkozy seemed not set to gain much momentum as he had wished earlier in the face-off against his rival who already leads by 6 to 8 percent in all polls for the runoff election on Sunday.

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