Long lines in Montreal as French expats head to the polls

The pivotal, and unpredictable, presidential election in France is drawing thousands of eligible voters to polling stations in Quebec.

Voters in France head to the polls on Sunday. But for citizens outside the country, Saturday was their last chance to cast a ballot for the country's next president.

In Montreal, French citizens lined up for hours outside a private school in Outremont. Of the 85,000 eligible French voters in Canada, the vast majority of them were registered to vote here.

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Many of those in lineexpressed fears that Marine Le Pen, leader of the anti-immigrant Front National, could win the election.

"I'm a bit worried right now about what's going on in France," saidManonHarsigny, who waited two hours to cast her vote.

"I know the far right is gaining more and more power and I really, really need to express my opinion and I don't want to feel guilty after the election."

Tight race

Le Pen is among 11 candidates in the running for the presidency. The winner is required to capture more than 50 per cent of the vote, meaning a run-off election with the two highest vote-getterswill likely be held next month.

Recent polls suggest Le Pen could make the run-off, along with Emmanuel Macron, who has campaigned on a centrist platform.

But not far behind the front-runners are the establishment conservativeFranoisFillionand the leftist outsiderJean-Luc Mlenchon.

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Fillion, who represents the Republican Party, looked poised at one point to make the second round, but his campaign was hampered by allegations he used public money to pay his wife andchildren for work they never did.

Since the scandal broke, though, he has managed to claw his way back into contention.

As forMlenchon, his campaign was off the radar until a spirited debate performance saw him climb to within a stone's throw of the leaders. His leftist brand of populism has some calling him the French Bernie Sanders.

"For me the worst is any kind of extreme," said Lisa DiJorio,as she waited in a line that stretched at least eight blocks.

"Thatcan be Marine Le Pen but it can also be the extreme opposite of that. The extreme left is not any better."

Around 10,000 voters were also registered at a polling station in Quebec City, which was expected to draw French citizens from as far as Trois-RiviresandSaguenay.