Hollande urges large turnout

Socialist presidential frontrunner Francois Hollande urged his supporters to turn out en masse to vote in Sunday's first election round, warning that abstention helped the far-right eliminate the left from the same contest 10 years ago. Hollande, tipped in opinion polls to win the two-round election by a comfortable margin, said he feared the positive predictions could lull Socialist voters into staying home, as in 2002.
"Nothing is certain and nobody can tell what the final order and scores will be," the 57-year-old told BFM television three days from a ballot that will eliminate eight of the 10 contenders before a runoff on May 6. A survey by pollster LH2 published on Thursday gave Hollande 56 percent support for the May 6 runoff, against 44 percent for Sarkozy.