Paris - Voter turnout in European Parliament elections in France Sunday was approximately the same as in the previous election, in 2004, the Interior Ministry in Paris said. As of 1500 GMT, 33.18 per cent of France's 44 million eligible voters had cast their ballots, compared to 33.24 per cent at the same time in 2004.
In the 2004 EU election, 42.76 per cent of all French voters cast their ballots. Turnout in the European Union elections has been steadily declining in France. In 1979, voter participation stood at 60.7 per cent.
Most French polling stations were due to close at 1600 GMT, but those in large cities are to remain open until 1800 GMT.
A total of 3,115 candidates, from 42 parties and organizations, were standing for France's 72 seats in the European Parliament.
All polls point to a victory for President Nicolas Sarkozy's Union for a Popular Movement (UMP), ahead of the opposition Socialist Party, Europe Ecologie and the centrist Modem of former presidential candidate Francois Bayrou.
The Socialists will want to draw at least 20 per cent of the vote. Anything less will be seen as an embarrassment and a bitter setback for party head Martine Aubry.
Bayrou needs to finish at least third in the polling to make his presidential ambitions for 2012 credible. Polls showed him falling behind Europe Ecologie in the final days of the campaign.
Analysts and mainstream politicians will also be keeping an eye on how two new far-left parties fare.
Because of the time differential, France's overseas territories, such as Martinique and Guadeloupe, voted on Saturday.
