Macron, Le Pen tied at 26% each in first round of French election - poll

Paris: Centrist Emmanuel Macron and far-right leader Marine Le Pen would lead the first round of voting in France's presidential election with 26 per cent each, a Kantar Sofres-Onepoint poll showed on Sunday.
Conservative Francois Fillon came third in the poll on first-round voting intentions, with 17 per cent, which would eliminate him from the second-round run-off. Next in the poll were Socialist Benoit Hamon and far-left candidate Jean-Luc Melenchon, tied on 12 per cent. French voters go the polls on April 23 and May 7 in the two-round election.