French voters flocked to choose a new president yesterday in an election dominated by right-wing front-runner Nicolas Sarkozy and Socialist Segolene Royal, who hopes to be the first woman elected head of state.

Sarkozy, a tough-talking former interior minister, led Royal and the other 10 candidates in opinion polls throughout the long campaign. But neither was on course to obtain an absolute majority, making a run-off between them likely on May 6.

The campaign was characterized by calls for change after 12 years of conservative rule by President Jacques Chirac.

"The French people know the importance of this vote, its seriousness, and I share their sentiment of living through a very important day," Royal told reporters after casting her vote in the western Poitou-Charentes region where she is leader.

Royal, 53, has pledged to re-unite the country and build a "fairer and stronger" France where all citizens would be equal. The ruling UMP party's Sarkozy, 52, has promised a break with the past, and a crackdown on crime and illegal immigration.

Voter turnout was more than 74 percent in the afternoon, the Interior Ministry said, the highest rate at this stage since 1981 and about 10 percentage points higher than at the same time in the last presidential election in 2002.

The brisk voting in sunny weather followed a big rise in voter registration before the election and reflected widespread concern that voter apathy could lead to another shock after far-right leader Jean-Marie Le Pen, reached the second-round run-off in 2002.

Final opinion polls suggested a third of the 44.5 million voters were not sure of their choice at the last minute, giving hope to third-placed centrist Francois Bayrou and Le Pen, who was lying fourth in most surveys.

"I want it to be a Sarkozy-Segolene run off," Laurence Rouquette, a 40-year-old antiques dealer, said after voting in a wealthy Paris suburb.

Sarkozy smiled as he voted with his wife Cecilia, a joint appearance that seemed intended to hit back at rivals' insinuations that their marriage is in trouble.

"What is very important is that the French come to vote in large numbers," he told reporters in Neuilly, a suburb of Paris.

The campaign has focused as much on personality as policy although the more than 8 percent unemployment rate and disappointing economic growth have been major issues, just two years after riots erupted in deprived housing estates.

Royal has vowed to raise the monthly minimum wage and pensions and to create 500,000 jobs for young people, but has said she will not raise overall taxes. Rivals say she is incompetent.

Sarkozy, the son of a Hungarian immigrant, has taken a tough line on crime and is viewed as the most business-friendly candidate by financial markets.

He is widely considered closer to the United States than the other candidates, but is portrayed as authoritarian by his rivals.

"I will vote for the first time this year, against Nicolas Sarkozy," said Ilhyes Ayadi, 28, a market trader in Venissieux, a poor suburb of Lyon.

"He wants too much severity. He tars everyone with the same brush. I reacted against Nicolas Sarkozy because he scares me."

The first opinion polls indicating a result are expected at the close of voting early morning Beijing time.

Source: China Daily/agencies