France opens its polls for a Socialist candidate
Polls opened in France on Sunday to choose a Socialist candidate to take on current President Nicolas Sarkozy in April 2012. Using a new US-style system, the election was open to not only card-carrying Socialists, but any voter on the electoral role.
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Voters who paid one euro and could prove their support of the left-wing party were allowed to cast a ballot.
Former party leader François Hollande appears to be ahead of six candidates, with a predicted win on Sunday by 42 percent, according to an IFOP poll. Martine Aubry, creator of France’s 35-hour work week, is likely to follow.
According to opinion polls, either Hollande or Aubry would beat Sarkozy in next year’s presidential vote.
Other candidates include Segolene Royale, Hollande’s former life partner and mother of their four children, Manuel Valls from the Socialist right and Arnaud Montebourg, who has campaigned on a protectionist ticket.
Jean-Michel Baylet is the head of the centrist Radical Party of the Left (Parti Radical de Gauche) and the only non-Socialist in the race.
If a Socialist won the presidential election next year, it would be the first time in 17 years.
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