On Tuesday, January 1st, members of France's governing conservative party began casting ballots online to choose a presidential nominee. Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy is the only candidate.

With only Sarkozy running, Valerie Pecresse, spokeswoman for the UMP, was asked about the usefulness of the ballot.

"When you launch a democratic process, you don't stop it just because there is only one candidate," she said. Pecresse said that voters could leave a ballot blank to show opposition to Sarkozy and that such a vote would be counted.

The Socialist Party, the main opposition, has already selected Ségolène Royal as its candidate.

The UMP is not the only party to make the Internet a key element of its presidential campaign. The Socialists and the far-right National Front, led by Jean-Marie Le Pen, have also relied heavily on Web sites to attract voters and pump up the party ranks.

Recent opinion polls show Royal and Sarkozy running neck and neck, with Le Pen coming in third.