PARIS (Sputnik) — Hollande was the mayor of Tulle from 2001 to 2008.
The president has talked with electorate and reporters at the polling station.
On Sunday, polling stations opened across France at 8 a.m. local time (06:00 GMT) for the first round of the presidential election. The first results are expected at around 8 p.m. local time later on Sunday, when the polls close.
In order to cast a ballot in France a citizen must be over 18 years old, not legally banned from voting and registered on the electoral list.
The same rules are applied to presidential candidates. They must also show a sense of "moral dignity," which is a loose term without a clear legal definition. a presidential hopeful must also collect 500 signatures of support from elected representatives. Anyone who is able to fulfill this criteria becomes eligible to run for the first round. If nobody wins the first round with the absolute majority, the two highest scoring candidates face each other in a runoff.
