Royal (left) and Sarkozy

PARIS (Reuters):

France's presidential candidates made a final push for support yesterday, the last day of campaigning before tomorrow's first round ballot with rightist Nicolas Sarkozy and Socialist Segolene Royal favourites to win.

But with millions of voters undecided, neither frontrunner was taking anything for granted after months of fierce political battles that have focused as much on personality as policy.

"The French are facing a choice which is not easy, because they have to judge a project, a journey and a character," said Royal, who is seeking to become France's first woman president.

A campaign blackout comes into force at midnight, with a day for reflection on Saturday before the polls open on Sunday.

A dozen candidates are seeking election and if, as expected, no one wins an absolute majority on April 22 the top two will meet in a second round ballot on May 6.

Sarkozy has led the opinion polls for months, but Royal has narrowed the gap and analysts say both centrist Francois Bayrou and far-right leader Jean-Marie Le Pen could yet cause an upset.

In 2002, Le Pen stunned France by knocking out the Socialist candidate, to win a place in the run-off against sitting President Jacques Chirac, who secured a comprehensive victory.

Chirac, the last survivor of a political class formed by World War Two General Charles de Gaulle, is retiring after 12 years in power, and the poll frontrunners are in their early 50s, promising a generational change at the top of France.

The election campaign has run against a background of fears over jobs, immigration and security, with memories of riots in France's deprived suburbs in 2005 still fresh in the memory.

And there was a reminder of the potential for further trouble after camera crews filming at one of the centres of the 2005 violence near Paris were assaulted and robbed.