France's UMP candidates both claim win

France's leading opposition party remained leaderless Monday after both candidates claimed victory in an election marred by allegations of fraud. Both former Prime Minister Francois Fillon and Jean-Francois Cope said they won a Union for a Popular Movement election Sunday following a divisive campaign season that caused a rift within the party, France 24 reported. Each camp said some polling places had "irregularities," including more votes cast than the number of registered voters. Both said they both would challenge the results, which were incomplete. "France is watching us," Fillon, who supporters said won by 244 votes of the more than 150,000 votes cast, told reporters Monday. Cope told supporters, "The UMP's membership has accorded me a majority of their votes and therefore has elected me as the president of the party." Whoever takes office faces the daunting task of reuniting a party that has been internally divided and derided by opponents, particularly the far-right National Front, which wants to become the main voice of France's conservative opposition, France 24 said.