Leftists poised for victory in French elections

French citizens prepare their vote in a polling station during legislative election in Louveciennes, 12 kms (7,5 mls) west of Paris, Sunday, June 17, 2012. French voters are choosing a new parliament Sunday that will determine how far Socialist President Francois Hollande can go with his push for economic stimulus in France an around a dept-burdened stagnant Europe. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)

French citizens prepare their vote in a polling station during legislative election in Louveciennes, 12 kms (7,5 mls) west of Paris, Sunday, June 17, 2012. French voters are choosing a new parliament Sunday that will determine how far Socialist President Francois Hollande can go with his push for economic stimulus in France an around a dept-burdened stagnant Europe. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)

French former Socialist presidential candidate Segolene Royal casts her vote for the legislative elections, Sunday, June 17, 2012, in La Rochelle, west of France. Royal is facing a Socialist Party opponent in the second round election, and will determine the makeup of the new parliament. (AP Photo/Jacques Brinon)

Gilbert Collard, a National Front Party candidate for French legislative elections, casts his vote during the second round of French legislative elections, in Gallician, near Nimes, southern France, Sunday, June 17, 2012. (AP Photo/Claude Paris)

French far-right leader and National Front Party candidate for French legislative elections, Marine Le Pen is seen after voting for the second round, Sunday, June 17, 2012 in Henin-Beaumont, northern France. French Legislative elections determine the makeup of the new parliament. (AP Photo/Michel Spingler)

PARIS (AP) ? French voters are choosing a new parliament Sunday that will determine how far Socialist President Francois Hollande can push for economic stimulus in France and around a debt-burdened, stagnant Europe.

The left is in the spotlight and expected to take the driver's seat of the 577-seat National Assembly after Sunday's second round of legislative elections.

Hollande's Socialists dominated the first round last week and pollsters predict they will win the most seats in the lower house. That would wrench it from the hands of former President Nicolas Sarkozy's conservatives, who have led it for a decade.

The campaign focused on local issues but will determine the country's political direction, which has Europe-wide importance. France is the second-biggest economy in the eurozone and, along with powerhouse Germany, contributes heavily to bailouts to weaker nations and often drives EU-wide policy.

Turnout in the French voting was 21.4 percent at midday, comparable to the 2002 and 2007 legislative elections, with some voters not bothering to cast ballots because so many were predicting a Socialist victory.

The elections come after a hasty new bailout for Spanish banks, and the same day as crucial voting in Greece. The Greek elections may determine whether the country stays in the euro, with repercussions for all the other 16 countries that use the joint currency.

After budget-tightening in France under Sarkozy that leftists warned would send France back into recession, Hollande is pushing for government-sponsored stimulus to encourage growth - and has met opposition from German Chancellor Angela Merkel as the two try to stem Europe's crisis.

Hollande's Socialist government has pledged to reduce the deficit, but markets are worried about higher spending when France's debts are so high.

Hollande, a moderate and mainstream leftist who is committed to European unity, is hoping to get an absolute majority of 289 seats for the Socialists to avoid having to make concessions to the Euro-skeptic far left.

Claire Morel said she voted for the Socialist candidate in her well-off Paris district "because I've been waiting for change for a long time. ... Also I wanted to support Francois Hollande, the government and its projects."

Pascal Albe, a voter from the working class Paris suburb of Ivry-sur-Seine, said that though he generally votes for the right, Hollande should have a Socialist-led parliament. "Otherwise the country will be paralyzed, and especially now, we don't need that," he said.

Voting stations close in big cities at 8 p.m. (1800GMT). Polling agency projections of the results are expected soon afterward, and official results are expected late Sunday night.

Political and personal intrigue ? and the resurgent far right ? have marked the campaign. The anti-immigrant National Front, which wants to abandon the euro and stop immigration, is wrangling for its first real presence in parliament in more than a quarter century.

Sarkozy's conservative UMP party is struggling to hold onto seats, and many candidates are angling for far-right votes.

National Front leader Marine Le Pen has revamped the party to try to shed its reputation as racist and anti-Semitic inherited under party founder Jean-Marie Le Pen. Daughter Marine placed a solid third in spring presidential elections and its candidates ranked third in last Sunday's first round of parliamentary voting.

But the French parliament system is such that the party is not expected to get more than three or four seats.

Any candidate who won support of more than 12.5 percent of registered voters in the first round advanced to Sunday's runoff, and many districts have three-way races. Some 46 million voters are casting ballots for individual candidates at 65,000 voting stations nationwide. Only 36 National Assembly candidates won seats outright in the first round; the remaining 541 seats were up for grabs Sunday.

Associated Press

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