BEIJING, May 29 (Xinhuanet) -- A total of 42 million eligible French voters would cast ballots in a referendum on the European Union's constitution on Sunday. Following are the key facts about the referendum:

    Voters on the Saint-Pierre and Miquelon islands off Canada's eastern coast are the first overseas French to give their opinion on the EU constitution. They began to cast votes at 8:00 a.m. local time (1000 GMT) Saturday, followed by voters in other Frenchoverseas territories in the day, including Martinique and Guadeloupe in the Caribbean, and Tahiti and New Caledonia in the South Pacific. Voters in the French overseas department of Reunionbegan voting at 6:00 a.m. local time (0400 GMT) on Sunday. French nationals living abroad can vote at the nearest French embassy or consulate.

    In metropolitan France, the voters will cast their ballots at polling station from 8:00 a.m. (0600 GMT) until 8:00 p.m. (1800 GMT) on Sunday, while residents in Paris and Lyon will have an extra two hours to cast their ballots.

    A total of 41.8 million eligible voters are expected to cast ballots in 64,700 polling stations all over the country. Voters can choose between two white ballot papers, one for "yes" and the other for "no" in polling stations.

    In Paris alone, 1.5 tons of ballot forms, including 1.32 million ballot forms for "no" and the same number for "yes," are prepared for the 853 polling stations.

    The result of the referendum will not be available before 10:00p.m. (2000 GMT) on Sunday, the French Audiovisual Superior Council(CSA) said.

    Interior Minister Dominique de Villepin is expected to release an official estimate for the result after the votes in Paris have been tabulated at about 11 p.m. (2100 GMT).

    The final results are expected to be released by the Constitutional Council on Thursday.

    Previous surveys showed that more than half of the French wouldreject the constitution, with a CSA poll registering a "no" vote of 56 percent and a poll by TNS Sofres of 52 percent.

    French President Jacques Chirac is leading the "yes" campaign. He warned that France could become the "black sheep" of the European Union and lose its influence within Europe if the voters reject the treaty.

    The leaders of the opposition Socialist Party, Chirac's ruling Union for a Popular Movement, the Union for French Democracy and the Greens party stand by Chirac.

    Laurent Fabius, former Socialist prime minister; Philippe de Villiers, leader of the Catholic-leaning, anti-European nationalist Movement for France; and Jean-Marie Le pen of the far-right National Front are the major leaders for the "no" camp.

    The EU constitution requires the approval of all the 25 EU members to go into force.

    On Friday, Germany became the ninth EU member state to ratify the constitutional treaty after Austria, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Lithuania, Slovakia, Slovenia and Spain.

    The Netherlands will be the next EU member country to hold its referendum on the treaty on Wednesday. Enditem