PARIS, France (CNN) -- Right-wing candidate Nicolas Sarkozy and Socialist rival Segolene Royal will face each other in a presidential run-off after they came through a first-round vote on Sunday, preliminary results showed.
According to numbers from the French Interior Ministry, Sarkozy earned 31.11 percent of the votes, while Royal won 25.83 percent.
Turnout was the highest in more than 40 years, and appeared to fall just short of the record for first-round voting set in 1965.
Because of the close margin, they will face a run-off on May 6.
Centrist Francois Bayrou, one of four main contenders, won 18.55 percent of the votes while far-right leader Jean-Marie Le Pen took 10.51 percent, according to the ministry.
Royal will become France's first woman president if she wins.
Official results from the election that drew a huge turnout were expected later on Sunday evening.
An IPSOS opinion poll released late on Sunday suggested Sarkozy would win 54 percent of votes in the second round and Royal would secure 46 percent.
Sarkozy told cheering supporters on he wanted to rally the French people behind a "new dream." (Watch Sarkozy talking about his vision )
"My dear compatriots, I want only one thing: to gather the French people around a new French dream," he told supporters at his UMP party.
France must now choose between two visions of society in the second round, Sarkozy said.
"By placing me in the lead and Madame Royal in second position, (voters) clearly marked their wish to have a definitive debate on two ideas of the nation, two projects of society, two value systems," he said.
Sarkozy's dream was one of "a fraternal republic where no-one will be afraid."
"I want to say to all the French who are afraid, that I want to protect them against violence, against delinquency, against unfair competition, against outsourcing," the former interior minister said.
Royal called for voters to rally round her, promising to bring France change without upheaval. (Watch Royal's speech after the result was announced )
"I call on all those who ... believe it is possible to reform France without brutalizing it, who want a triumph of human values over the stock market, who want an end to the painful rise of insecurity and precariousness, to come together," she told a rally in central-western France.
"Many of us -- regardless of the first round -- do not want a France ruled by the law of the strongest or the most brutal, sewn-up by money interests, where all powers are concentrated in the same few hands.
"I reach out to all those who believe it is not only possible but urgent to break with a system that is no longer working," Royal said.
Unprecedented interest
The vote has generated unprecedented interest in France, at a time when the country has been beset by economic and social problems.
With incumbent Jacques Chirac standing down after 12 years in office, candidates have tried to assert their credentials as part of a new generation of politicians eager to reshape the troubled country's traditional ways of life.
But observers say the main contenders have often struggled to define policies setting them apart from their rivals despite dynamic campaigning.
Interior Ministry figures showed that 84.48 percent of France's 40 million voters cast ballots. Such a figure would near the record of 84.8 percent set for a first round in 1965, according to The Associated Press.
Observers say the next president will inherit a nation on the brink of an economic crisis, struggling with national identity and coping with a poverty-stricken immigrant community still reeling from the 2005 youth riots.
In Sarkozy and Royal, voters face a clear choice between a right-wing program based on free-market ideas and a left-winger promising to safeguard the country's "social model."
Also running in the election were three Trotskyites, a Communist, a Green and anti-capitalist campaigner Jose Bove. The other two are a hunters' rights candidate and the Catholic nationalist Philippe de Villiers.
CNN correspondent Jim Bittermann said the campaign had been fierce compared to previous presidential races.
"It has been a really intense campaign, probably more so than usual," he said.
Copyright 2007 CNN. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Associated Press contributed to this report.
According to numbers from the French Interior Ministry, Sarkozy earned 31.11 percent of the votes, while Royal won 25.83 percent.
Turnout was the highest in more than 40 years, and appeared to fall just short of the record for first-round voting set in 1965.
Because of the close margin, they will face a run-off on May 6.
Centrist Francois Bayrou, one of four main contenders, won 18.55 percent of the votes while far-right leader Jean-Marie Le Pen took 10.51 percent, according to the ministry.
Royal will become France's first woman president if she wins.
Official results from the election that drew a huge turnout were expected later on Sunday evening.
An IPSOS opinion poll released late on Sunday suggested Sarkozy would win 54 percent of votes in the second round and Royal would secure 46 percent.
Sarkozy told cheering supporters on he wanted to rally the French people behind a "new dream." (Watch Sarkozy talking about his vision )
"My dear compatriots, I want only one thing: to gather the French people around a new French dream," he told supporters at his UMP party.
France must now choose between two visions of society in the second round, Sarkozy said.
"By placing me in the lead and Madame Royal in second position, (voters) clearly marked their wish to have a definitive debate on two ideas of the nation, two projects of society, two value systems," he said.
Sarkozy's dream was one of "a fraternal republic where no-one will be afraid."
"I want to say to all the French who are afraid, that I want to protect them against violence, against delinquency, against unfair competition, against outsourcing," the former interior minister said.
Royal called for voters to rally round her, promising to bring France change without upheaval. (Watch Royal's speech after the result was announced )
"I call on all those who ... believe it is possible to reform France without brutalizing it, who want a triumph of human values over the stock market, who want an end to the painful rise of insecurity and precariousness, to come together," she told a rally in central-western France.
"Many of us -- regardless of the first round -- do not want a France ruled by the law of the strongest or the most brutal, sewn-up by money interests, where all powers are concentrated in the same few hands.
"I reach out to all those who believe it is not only possible but urgent to break with a system that is no longer working," Royal said.
Unprecedented interest
The vote has generated unprecedented interest in France, at a time when the country has been beset by economic and social problems.
With incumbent Jacques Chirac standing down after 12 years in office, candidates have tried to assert their credentials as part of a new generation of politicians eager to reshape the troubled country's traditional ways of life.
But observers say the main contenders have often struggled to define policies setting them apart from their rivals despite dynamic campaigning.
Interior Ministry figures showed that 84.48 percent of France's 40 million voters cast ballots. Such a figure would near the record of 84.8 percent set for a first round in 1965, according to The Associated Press.
Observers say the next president will inherit a nation on the brink of an economic crisis, struggling with national identity and coping with a poverty-stricken immigrant community still reeling from the 2005 youth riots.
In Sarkozy and Royal, voters face a clear choice between a right-wing program based on free-market ideas and a left-winger promising to safeguard the country's "social model."
Also running in the election were three Trotskyites, a Communist, a Green and anti-capitalist campaigner Jose Bove. The other two are a hunters' rights candidate and the Catholic nationalist Philippe de Villiers.
CNN correspondent Jim Bittermann said the campaign had been fierce compared to previous presidential races.
"It has been a really intense campaign, probably more so than usual," he said.
Copyright 2007 CNN. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Associated Press contributed to this report.
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