A record 17 candidates have filed petitions to run in the first round of presidential elections in France later this month. 

France's Constitutional Council is to announce Thursday which of the hopefuls have successfully collected the required 500 signatures for listing on the April 21 ballot. The deadline for filing was Tuesday night. The previous record number of candidates was 12 in 1974. 

Nearly all are expected to be eliminated in the first round leaving the field to President Jacques Chirac and Prime Minister Lionel Jospin who are expected to face off in the May 5 runoff. 

The list of others ranges from the veteran far-right leader Jean Marie le Pen to representatives of three Trotskyist parties, a Communist, an ecologist and a supporter of hunters' rights. 

The latest public opinion polls give Mr. Jospin a slight advantage. But experts call the three point margin insignificant. 

Political observers have described the campaign up to now as lackluster. But a recent series of violent incidents in France have made law and order an important election issue. 

Some information for this report provided by Reuters and AFP.

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