Undecided voters in French presidential election make race unpredictable

Marine Le Pen, French National Front (FN) political party leader and candidate for French 2017 presidential election, attends a political rally in Pageas, France April 13, 2017. [Photo/Agencies]

PARIS - In La Garenne city in Paris' northern suburbs, Julie -- a jobless young woman -- was looking at presidential candidate posters.

"I'm looking to all these faces hoping they will tell me something to help making my decision. But I find nothing," she said joking.

To the 26-year-old mother of two children, the presidential campaign is a "total blur." Initially, she had chosen independent contender Emmanuel Macron. As the election neared, she became more hesitant.

"I thought Macron could bring solutions to jobless youth and improve the country's economy given his program. But, his inexperience as an elected official makes me wonder if he should rule our country for five years," she told Xinhua.

Julie is one of millions of French voters who could abstain in this year's presidential contest scheduled for April 23 and May 7.

A recent Odoxa poll showed three quarters of French voters were certain to vote. However, nearly half of them were yet to make their final choice of which candidate to support following an unpredictable campaign.

Jean Horlamus, a caretaker, is a supporter of veteran right politician Alain Juppe who lost the conservative primary to Francois Fillon in November 2016.

"Juppe embodies experience and unity. Unfortunately, he was beaten by Fillon who has made rightists voters in disarray following the fraud scandal," he said.

"I cannot trust Fillon and I cannot find myself agreeing with other candidates' programs. Maybe, I'll choose at the last minute, maybe I won't vote," he added.