Turnout was on course to beat the first-round figure of nearly 85 percent on 22nd April, when Sarkozy and Royal eliminated 10 other candidates.

The Interior Ministry said 34.1 percent of the 44.5 million have participated.

The winner will inherit a fractured, fragile society in need of economic reform and a dose of self-belief even though France is a nuclear power, has a permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council and is the euro zone's second largest economy.

The election marks a generational shift with the departure of Chirac, 74, but just how far France is ready for change is open to question.

"Segolene Royal is a woman who for me has reinvented the way we do politics by wanting to involve the citizens," said Lilian Charlet, a 47-year-old director of a training organization in Rennes in western France.

Marie-France Dias de Lima, said, "I would rather have someone who focuses on the economy than someone who focuses on social problems."

Opinion polls giving an initial indication of the result were expected immediately after voting ends.

First partial official results were due soon afterwards. - DDNews India