PARIS -(Dow Jones)- Francois Hollande, the presidential candidate for France's Socialist party, narrowed his lead in polls over incumbent French President Nicolas Sarkozy nine days ahead of the second round of elections, according to a poll Thursday.

The poll, carried out April 24 and 25 by CSA, showed 54% of potential voters would chose Hollande if elections were held now, while 46% of them would pick Sarkozy. In the previous CSA poll, April 22, Hollande garnered 56% of voting intentions and Sarkozy 44%.

In the first round of French presidential elections held Sunday, Hollande garnered 28.6% of the votes, while Sarkozy got 27.2%. Far right candidate Marine Le Pen came third with 17.9% and far-left candidate Jean-Luc Melenchon got 11.1%, while centrist Francois Bayrou got 9.1% of the votes. Five minor candidates, including the Green party candidate, shared the remaining votes.

Asked which candidate the respondents expect to win the elections, 66% predict that Hollande will be the next French President while only 28% of people anticipate Sarkozy holding the position for a second term, CSA said Thursday.

The poll surveyed 1,121 registered voters.

-By Nadya Masidlover, Dow Jones Newswires; +33 1 4017 1740; nadya.masidlover@dowjones.com