French 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. (1800 GMT) 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 ($101,900).

"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 "rumors circulating in newsrooms from 6 p.m."

The Internet has become a crucial part of the French presidential campaign, with all main candidates presenting their policies on their Web sites and bloggers commenting on and analyzing election promises.

Some 10.6 million French homes out of a total of about 26 million are online, and according to pollster Ipsos Mori, France is "the most blog-savvy country in Europe".

In 2001, France's highest court eased limits on opinion polls in the run up to the vote, after the rules came under increasing strain with the rise of the Internet.

The court ruled then that a law barring publication of polls a week before elections was unfair because citizens with Internet access could consult polls published abroad.

Under current rules, no opinion polls may be published from midnight on Friday.