PARIS (Reuters) - Former French justice minister and left-wing candidate Christiane Taubira said she had failed to win enough endorsements from elected officials to qualify for April's Presidential election.

       "I am putting an end to this needless suspense," Taubira told a news conference on Wednesday.

       France's Constitutional Council posted data showing Taubira had so far only won 181 endorsements ahead of a March 4 deadline at 6 p.m to secure the required 500 signatures.

       "My candidacy is hindered by an administrative process that I believe will not survive this election," she added.

       The endorsement rule, in place since the mid-1970s, is designed to filter out some of the more eccentric electoral contenders ahead of the first round.

       Taubira, 70, who was justice minister under former Socialist President Francois Hollande, threw her hat into the ring in January. She won a primary poll launched by left-wing citizens ahead of this year's election, which polls say will be won by President Emmanuel Macron.

       Her victory in that poll had deeply fragmented the left-wing part of France's political sphere, with at least six candidates running on left-wing tickets.

       (Reporting by Dominique Vidalon; Editing by Sudip Kar-Gupta)