This contest and the French presidential vote itself are shaping up as new tests of strength between weakened mainstream parties and rising populist forces. It is the first centre-right primary to be held in France, and anyone who pays €2 ($2.86 CDN) and signs a form showing support for the party's values can take part. "I'll be voting Juppe, probably," Dimitri Cournede, aged 34, from Abbeville in northern France and who considers himself a left-wing voter, told Reuters by telephone. A voter puts a two-euro coin in a box with the message, 'Open primary for the right and centre,' before voting in the first round of the French centre-right presidential primary election in Nice. Nicolas Sarkozy, former French president and candidate for the French conservative presidential primary, votes in the first round of the French centre-right presidential primary election in Paris, France on Sunday.

Source: CBC News November 20, 2016 20:13 UTC