Segolene Royal, who lost her bid to become France's first woman president, said Friday she planned to remain "very present" on the French political scene, though she did not specify in what capacity.

French voters turned out in droves for an election run-off in which conservative Nicolas Sarkozy has been widely expected to defeat Socialist Segolene Royal in her bid to become France's first woman President.

France has began voting in a presidential run-off ballot pitting the right-wing son of an Hungarian immigrant Nicolas Sarkozy against a Socialist Segolene Royal bidding to become France's first woman president.

French citizens in the country's overseas territories have begun casting ballots in a presidential runoff election to determine who will succeed President Jacques Chirac. Saturday's early voting comes a day before voters in mainland France cast their ballots for either conservative Nicolas Sarkozy or Socialist Segolene Royal.

French voters go to the polls on Sunday (May 6th) to elect a new president. They face a stark choice between a conservative, former Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy, and the Socialist Party's candidate, Segolene Royal, who is bidding to become the country's first female president. France's sluggish economy and the plight of the country's inner cities have dominated the campaign.

Socialist Segolene Royal does her best to save her presidency campaign before Sunday runoff. She warned Friday that if Sarkozy wins the race, there will be violence in France. With final polls saying Sarkozy has increased his lead, Royal has sought to portray him as too unstable and too brutal to lead France.

The recent debate between Segolene Royal and Nicolas Sarkozy, the two candidates of coming presidential run-off in France, seemed to be at least heated. Ms Royal was expressing her ideas in a quite aggressive way unlike her opponent, Mr Sarkozy who was trying to remain as calm as possible with respectful attitude towards her.

France's presidential election finalists are to debate Wednesday, in a two-hour, televised event ahead of this Sunday's vote. The latest opinion poll shows Sarkozy maintaining at least a four percentage point lead over Royal.

Jean-Marie Le Pen, far-right leader, urged his supporters not to take part in voting in France's presidential runoff Sunday between conservative Nicolas Sarkozy and Socialist Segolene Royal.

French opinion polls suggest Socialist presidential candidate Segolene Royal is making minor inroads against her center-right rival Nicolas Sarkozy. The latest polls show Royal trailing Sarkozy 48-52, closing the margin as the two prepare for a key televised debate Wednesday, and Sunday's second round of elections.

The poll released Friday showed that conservative Nicolas Sarkozy got six-point lead over Socialist Segolene Royal. But the final weekend of campaigning for the French presidency clearly recognize the winner.

French voters are faced with a clear choice between liberal and conservative political parties, after Sunday's first-round presidential election. Anita Elash reports for VOA from Paris conservative Nicolas Sarkozy and socialist Segolene Royal made it through to the run-off vote on May 6.