Sarkozy, Royal Make It to Runoff

Rightwinger Nicolas Sarkozy and Socialist Segolene Royal will contest a runoff on May 6 after winning most votes in the first round of France"s presidential election on Sunday, according to projections from four polling firms.

Sarkozy, the 52-year-old former interior minister, won the first place in the election while Royal, 53, who wants to become France"s first woman president, came in second, projections based on a sample of the official count showed.

Sarkozy, the candidate of the governing party, won between 29.4 percent and 30 percent of the votes, according to the polling firms, while Royal garnered between 25.5 and 26.2 percent.

The Ifop, Ipsos, Sofres and CSA polls gave the centrist candidate Francois Bayrou voting estimates between 17.8 percent and 18.6 percent while the far-right leader Jean-Marie Le Pen took the fourth place with between 10.6 and 12 percent.