Sarkozy votes in first round presidential poll

PARIS: President Nicolas Sarkozy and his former supermodel wife Carla Bruni voted Sunday in Paris' plush 16th district in the first round of France's presidential vote.

Sarkozy, who polls predict will be beaten by Socialist rival Francois Hollande, cast his vote at 11:45 am (0945 GMT) in a polling station in Jean de la Fontaine high school.

Bruni was the first of the couple to drop her election slip into an urn at the voting station in the western district, a stronghold of her husband's right-wing UMP party.

The candidate smiled and shook hands with elections officials and voters before being driven off without making any comment to the dozens of journalists present.

Hollande voted earlier on Sunday at a polling station in Tulle in the central Correze region, where he is the local parliamentary representative and heads the regional council.

Accurate vote predictions were expected shortly after polls close at 8.00 pm (1800 GMT).

Sunday's vote will whittle down the field from 10 to two, and Hollande and Sarkozy are expected to face each other head-to-head in a May 6 run-off to decide who runs France. (AFP)