France votes for new parliament

France voted on Sunday in the first round of an election tipped to give the left control of parliament and consolidate President Francois Hollande's grip on power as he seeks to ease the pain of a debt crisis in Europe.

At stake in the vote for the 577-seat National Assembly, the lower house of parliament, is Hollande's ability to rule with a free hand as he seeks to reboot Europe's second-largest economy and push other eurozone leaders to combat stagnation.

On a rainy day across most of France, voting stations opened at 8 am. Voting ends at 8 pm, when early returns should give an indication of the size of what polls predict will be a victory for the Socialists and their allies.