Security Tight as France Prepares for Presidential Vote
A woman shows her voter card at a polling station on April 22, 2017 in Remire Montjoly, French Guiana during the first round of the French presidential election. / AFP PHOTO / jody amiet (Photo credit should read JODY AMIET/AFP/Getty Images)
Photographer: Jody Amiet/AFP via Getty ImagesParis (AP) -- Early voting began overseas Saturday in France's most nail-biting election in generations, and the 11 candidates seeking to become the country's next president silenced their campaigns as required to give voters a period of reflection.
Opinion polls pointed to a tight race among the four top contenders vying to get into the May 7 presidential runoff that will decide who becomes France's next head of state. But the polls also said that decision was largely in the hands of the one-in-three French voters who were still undecided.