Paris, Shawwal 27, 1432, Sep 25, 2011, SPA -France's last election before next year's presidential poll got underway Sunday with an electoral college of nearly 72,000 public representatives set to elect 170 members of the Senate. Half of the seats in the upper house of parliament are renewable every three years. Senators sit for a term of six years, according to a report of the German Press Agency "DPA". The chamber currently has 343 members but an extra five seats are being created in this election, bringing the number to 348. --SPA 11:55 LOCAL TIME 08:55 GMT www.spa.gov.sa/928255