French voters went to the polls on Sunday for the first round of a US-style primary to choose a rightwing candidate for next year's presidential elections, with former president Nicolas Sarkozy and ex-prime minister Alain Juppe facing a late challenge from an outsider.
A last-minute surge in the opinion polls by Francois Fillon, who was prime minister under Sarkozy, showed he was in contention to grab one of the top two spots for next Sunday's runoff.
It is the first time the French right has held such a primary.
The outcome is crucial because with the French left divided, the conservative candidate who emerges is tipped to take the presidency in May after beating far-right leader Marine Le Pen.
Some voters surveys at the end of campaigning put 62-year-old Fillon nearly level with Sarkozy, 61, and Juppe, the 71-year-old political veteran who had been the frontrunner for the past two months.
Juppe's strategy of playing the moderate against the fiery Sarkozy and the reform-minded Fillon appears to have backfired.
The vote is not restricted to right-wing voters.
An unknown factor is how many left-leaning supporters will take part after paying €2 and signing a declaration that they subscribe to "the values of the centre and the right".
One such Socialist voter, a sports teacher in his 50s who identified himself only as Eric, said on Sunday he was voting "against Sarkozy".
"I'm fed up of that guy, he thinks he is all-powerful and he has been involved in too many scandals. Juppe, despite everything else, is the opposite," he told AFP as he cast his vote in the Paris suburb of Pantin.