PARIS (voa) – Polls are open across France in the run-off election to determine who will lead France for the next five years, incumbent conservative President Jacques Chirac and his far-right challenger Jean-Marie Le Pen.
Voting began at 8:00 AM local time (0600 UTC). The last polls are expected to close 12 hours later (at eight p-m local time, 1800 UTC) in major cities such as Paris, Lyons and Marseilles.
Mr. Chirac is expected to win easily over Mr. Le Pen, who scored a major upset two weeks ago by qualifying for the run-off, eliminating incumbent Socialist Prime Minister Lionel Jospin.
The surprising first round finish stunned France and galvanized opposition to the 73-year-old National Front leader, sparking street protests and public denunciations of his candidacy.
Most French political parties, labor unions and newspapers have endorsed Mr. Chirac, who has said the election is about defending the values of the French republic.
Mr. Le Pen has campaigned on a law-and-order, anti-immigrant and anti-European Union platform. Critics accuse him of being racist and anti-Semitic, charges he denies.
A key question in Sunday’s election will be how many of France’s 41 million voters will stay at home. A record low voter turnout was attributed to Mr. Le Pen’s success in the first round of balloting.
