Macron, Le Pen tied at 26 percent each in first round of French election: poll

PARIS (Reuters) - Centrist Emmanuel Macron and far-right leader Marine Le Pen would lead the first round of voting in France's presidential election with 26 percent each, a Kantar Sofres-Onepoint poll showed on Sunday. Conservative Francois Fillon came third in the poll on first-round voting intentions, with 17 percent, which would eliminate him from the second-round run-off. Next in the poll were Socialist Benoit Hamon and far-left candidate Jean-Luc Melenchon, tied on 12 percent. French voters go the polls on April 23 and May 7 in the two-round election. (Reporting by Gus Trompiz, editing by Larry King)