Former PM Francois Fillon on Track to Win French Conservative Presidential Primary

Former PM Francois Fillon on Track to Win French Conservative Presidential Primary
Former French Prime Minister Francois Fillon appears to be on his way to winning Sunday's conservative party presidential primary.
Early returns give Fillon 44 percent of the vote, followed by ex-Prime Minister Alain Juppe with 28 percent and former President Nicolas Sarkozy with 21 percent. If those results hold up, Fillon and Juppe will meet in a runoff next Sunday and the winner will be the conservative candidate for president next year.
Sarkozy has already conceded(承认） defeat and says he will throw his support behind Fillon.
This is the first time conservative voters directly chose a presidential candidate. Until now, party leaders picked the contender. The campaign was marked by concerns about the influx of migrants into Europe and the devastating series of jihadist attacks in France.
After Britain's shock "Brexit" vote and Donald Trump's victory in the U.S. presidential contest, the French presidential vote is taking shape to be another test between mainstream parties and rising populist forces.

returns: the results of voting in an election (= a political competition):
runoff:  a second or final election held when no one got enough votes to win an earlier election
contender: someone who competes with other people to try to win something: 
influx: the fact of a large number of people or things arriving at the same time:  
take shape: to start to develop a more clear or certain form:  
populist: representing or relating to the ideas and opinions of ordinary people: 

Haitians vote in hopes of restoring constitutional order
Vote counting has begun in Haiti's repeatedly derailed presidential election. No official results were expected to be issued for at least eight days.
Six million Haitians were eligible to vote for one of 27 presidential candidates, as well as for members of both houses of parliament.
Haitians are hoping the new national leader will end a year of uncertainty and struggles, while uniting the nation and creating jobs. Many Haitians still suffer from a 2010 earthquake and its most recent serious storm, Hurricane Matthew.
There is no clear-cut leader among the 27 candidates for president.
A presidential election was held in October 2015, but the results were scrapped because of fraud.
More than 13,000 police officers and United Nations peacekeeper troops are on the streets to safeguard voting centers.
But with so many candidates for president, no one is likely to gain an absolute majority of the vote. The top two finishers Sunday will face off January 29.

derail: to prevent a plan or process from succeeding: 
eligible: having the necessary qualities or satisfying the necessary conditions:
clear-cut: clear or obvious without needing any proof: 
scrap:  to not continue with a system or plan: