Sarkozy and Royal set to contest French presidency

More than 75 percent of French voters turned out, sending the former interior minister and the nation's first female major-party presidential candidate to a May 6 runoff.

from the April 23, 2007 edition

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PARIS - Conservative Nicolas Sarkozy and Socialist Ségolène Royal will face each other in a runoff for president on May 6, after one of the largest voter turnouts in French history.

The vote gives a clear choice between a right and a left direction for one of Europe's most influential nations, and may possibly allow France to elect its first female head of state.

When the polls closed at 8 p.m. Paris time, preliminary results showed Mr. Sarkozy, the former interior minister, with 29.6 percent of the vote, and Ms. Royal with 25.1 percent, according to French election officials.

A "Sarko-Ségo" run-off is probably the least surprising outcome in what has been a wide-open, 12-candidate race, where "undecided" has been the standard voter reply to pollsters for months. François Bayrou, the so-called "third option" in the race, and nationalist Jean-Marie Le Pen, finished with 18.7 and 11.5 percent respectively.

Voter turnout was confirmed to be at least 75 percent at 5 p.m., with projections showing that up to 87 percent of France's 44.5 million voters would cast ballots.

Front-runner Sarkozy, in a speech at his campaign headquarters moments after the polls closed, said a race between himself and Royal would offer "two ideas for the future, two projects for society ... and we have the responsibility to make the positions as clear as possible."

At 9:45 p.m., Royal gave a speech emphasizing brotherhood and justice. She said, it's time to engage in a "fight for change so that France can stand up again."

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