French presidential candidates are observing a one day truce on the eve of voting in a first-round poll to whittle the ten-strong field down to two frontrunners.
French election rules outlaw both campaigning and opinion polling on the last day of the race, but Socialist challenger Francois Hollande goes into the weekend favourite to oust right-wing incumbent Nicolas Sarkozy.
The two 57-year-old political veterans are expected to win the two spots in the 6 May run-off, with polls suggesting Mr Hollande will win the battle.
The eventual winner of the 6 May vote will still have to win legislative elections in June to make sure of his or her authority, but any French leader with a parliamentary majority has wide room to manoeuvre.
Voting in the first round has begun in France's far-flung overseas territories - islands in the Pacific, Indian and Atlantic oceans - where 882,000 people enjoy full voting rights as citizens of the republic.
Tomorrow, 85,000 polling stations will open around the mainland from 8am. Most will close at 6pm, but in major cities they will stay open until 8pm, when estimated results will be released.
In France, opinion poll institutes are permitted to take samples from ballot boxes during polling, so the estimates they release at 8pm are generally an accurate measure of the result.
More than 400 opinion polls have been conducted during the campaign, a third more than in the last race in 2007, and the vast majority tell the same story.
Mr Hollande is expected to come in first place in the first round, closely followed by Mr Sarkozy, so both ought to qualify for the run-off.
Three more candidates could break into double figures in percentage terms: far-right candidate Marine Le Pen, hard-left politician Jean-Luc Melenchon and veteran centrist Francois Bayrou.
While good scores would give these three a voice in national politics and their supporters a boost before the June parliamentary election, they will bow tomorrow and leave the frontrunners to woo their voters.
