While the French presidential candidates thrash it out for Sunday's first round vote, France's increasingly crowded political blogosphere has launched its own race: will websites be able to beat TV stations to get the results out first.

A debate is raging online this week after the journalist Jean-Marc Morandini announced on his blog that he would post on his site early "rumours" that came into his editorial offices.

Officiall the results are announced at 8pm on Sunday night, once all polling stations are closed. It is illegal for French media to release any early steers from polling companies and exit polls, however accurate a picture they might give.

HERALD TRIBUNE

Bloggers threaten to jump gun on France's election result

PARIS: It is a scenario voters on the U.S. west coast know well: election results from eastern states are made public before they have even finished casting their ballots.

The same thing could happen in France on Sunday if bloggers make good on threats not to wait until voting has closed to publish polling agencies' projections of results in the presidential election.

The possibility has caused a stir as French law on the issue is formal, stipulating that no result should leak before polls close at 8 p.m. (1900 GMT). Violators risk a €75,000 ($101,000) fine.

But journalist Jean-Marc Morandini is among those who may jump the gun.

On http://www.jeanmarcmorandini.com, he says it's illogical that foreign Web sites — not bound by French law — will be able to publish result projections before the deadline.

He wants politicians to promise that they will change the law. If they do, "I'll backpedal." If not, he says he will decide Sunday, when voting is underway, what to do.

Guy Birenbaum also says he will publish "a serious result" if he gets one before 8 p.m.

This is a problem because some voting stations will shut at 6 p.m. (1700 GMT) and others one or two hours later. Polling agencies base their initial result projections on those that close first and give them to reporters before 8 p.m.

Again, it demonstrates the borderless power of the Internet.

France's commission overseeing the vote has asked French Web sites to de-activate links to abroad, to prevent results coming back into the country before the permitted time, said Alain Fichelle, in charge of administration at the commission.

On election day, "we are going to watch the sites," he told The Associated Press. "We are doing everything to prevents lapses or leaks."

But he conceded that they are powerless to prevent foreign Web sites from publishing, and said changes in the law will "surely" be needed.

"Having offices that close at 6 and others at 8 is perhaps a bad idea," he said.

Sunday's vote will whittle the 12-candidate field down to two who advance to a May 6 runoff.

Agence Reuters

Watchdog warns bloggers on early poll leaks

PARIS (Reuters) - France's election watchdog warned media and Internet bloggers on Wednesday not to publish the results of exit polls on Sunday's election before the end of voting, as some bloggers have threatened.

Exit polls for the first round of the presidential election French will be available to some media outlets before the end of voting but are embargoed until polling stations close at 8 p.m. (7:00 p.m. British time) to prevent voters being unfairly influenced.

However, several bloggers have said they may defy the rules and report the results of the polls early and some French newspapers have raised concerns that several foreign Web sites could break the embargo.

France's national commission for the control of the campaign and the commission on opinion polls said any such early publication would bring fines of 75,000 euros (50,800 pounds).

"This is justified by the absolute necessity of protecting each citizen's right to the free expression of their vote from any external interference," the commissions said in a statement.

Twelve candidates are running in the first round of the election on Sunday and the two leaders will go through to a second round run-off on May 6 to decide the next president.

Recent opinion surveys see rightist candidate Nicolas Sarkozy coming in ahead of his Socialist rival Segolene Royal and centrist Francois Bayrou in Sunday's vote.

Le Monde daily said on Tuesday that several bloggers had vowed to break the poll embargo, citing journalist blogger Jean-Marc Morandini as saying he would publish "rumours circulating in newsrooms from 6 p.m."