France would adopt firm measures on early leaks of poll results online, imposing fine up to 75,000 euros (98,250 U.S. dollars) on those who publish the exit poll or election result ahead of the official announcement, said the country's poll watchdog on Wednesday.

"No poll, no partial result, no estimate of the results can be broadcasted on Saturday, April 21 and Sunday, April 22 before 8 p.m. local time (1800 GMT)," according to a press release from Commission Nationale de Controle de la Campagne (CNCCEP), an institution that regulates pollsters.

"The law prohibits any form of publication, distribution, comments" concerning the election result, said the statement, adding that "this would ban all broadcasts through the press, especially radio and broadcast media, online (websites and blogs) and social networks."

These measures were to prevent leaks of voting trend and "to protect the last voter to vote," as a commission member put it.

The CNCCEP is expected to give a more detailed plan on control of the potential leaks on Friday, though it would be a daunting task in an age of social media.

On Sunday, 44.3 million registered French voters are expected to cast their ballot for the first round of the presidential election in polling stations which usually close at 6 p.m. local time (1600 GMT) while in big cities at 8 p.m. local time (1800 GMT).