French Go to Polls in Closely Watched Presidential Race PARIS - French voters cast ballots on Sunday in the first round of a closely watched presidential election that could have significant implications for Europe and the euro as the region struggles to emerge from a prolonged economic malaise. Opinion polls have suggested for months that the incumbent president, Nicolas Sarkozy, and his Socialist challenger, François Hollande, will probably emerge as the finalists in a field of 10 candidates. The two would then face a run-off on May 6. But the polls also found significant numbers of undecided voters among the 44.5 million registered and that up to 25 percent of all voters may abstain. At midday, Interior Ministry estimates put the early turnout at just over 28 percent, down slightly from the same point in the voting in 2007. Final voter participation five years ago was a record 84 percent. The last polling stations are scheduled to close at 8 p.m. and the first official result estimates were expected shortly thereafter. French law bars the early publication of exit polls, although media organizations in neighboring Belgium and Switzerland were expected to publish initial results online from districts where the polls close at 6 p.m. as soon as they are available. This year's contest is expected to contrast sharply with elections five years ago, when three out of four French voters supported the mainstream. That campaign's "third man" was a centrist, François Bayrou, who garnered 18 percent of first-round votes. This time, however, many voters have become disaffected, even angry, with what they regard as the timid proposals of Mr. Sarkozy and Mr. Hollande, and have turned to the fringe parties - particularly the far-right National Front, led by Marine Le Pen, and the Front de Gauche, a hodgepodge of former Communists and anti-globalists led by Jean-Luc Mélenchon. Together, support for Ms. Le Pen and Mr. Mélenchon could be as much as 30 percent and outstrip the votes for either Mr. Sarkozy or Mr. Hollande. Mr. Bayrou, the centrist, is polling at just 10 percent. Most polls have margins of error of about three percentage points, and in the past they have underestimated the vote for the National Front and, in 2007, for Mr. Sarkozy. While polling is difficult with 10 candidates, the surveys agree that the race is tight. The two main candidates are already looking to the second round in a couple of weeks. Mr. Sarkozy is hoping to gain some momentum by coming in first on Sunday. Polls have indicated that Mr. Hollande is favored to win a run-off, which is likely to bode for a change in the direction France, a pillar of the European Union, takes in addressing crucial issues, not least of which is the grinding euro crisis. After casting his vote Sunday in his political hometown of Tulle, in central France, Mr. Hollande acknowledged as much. That's why many people are watching us," he said. Mr. Hollande has advocated higher taxes on the rich and a greater emphasis on growth over austerity, a stance that would create strains with Germany and rattle financial markets that are already nervous about the size of France's debt. He has also said that he wants to pull French troops out of Afghanistan sooner than NATO has agreed to do. Steven Erlanger contributed reporting.