Austria Postpones Presidential Election

EU | September 12, 2016, Monday // 14:17|  views

Austrian Interior Minister Wolfgang Sobotka announces the postponement of the repeat of the Austrian Presidential election runoff in Vienna, Austria, September 12, 2016. EPA/BGNES

Austria is hold a re-run of the second round of a presidential vote later than previously announced, Prime Minister Wolfgang Sobotka has said.

"Technical" reasons related to the new ballots have been cited which make it "not possible" to hold the vote on the date announced. Among the issues that have merged are the need for new envelopes and a new printing house for the ballots. The possibility to use old envelopes in stock has also been considered.

Sobotka will now ask Parliament to approved the step, Austrian daily Die Presse quotes him as saying.

The vote was to take place on October 02 after the Constitutional court scrapped the run-off that had taken place on May 22.

New possible dates are November 27 and December 04.

The last President, Heinz Fischer, left office after his term expired on July 08. The Parliament Speaker and his deputies have assumed the head of state's duties since then.

Alexander Van der Bellen, a former Greens leader, garnered just over 30 000 more votes compared to right-winger Norbert Hofer. In the night of the election, the two were neck and neck, and the outcome was determined by the results of voting by post.

Hofer's Freedom Party contested the result, saying thousands of postal voters had been opened earlier than permitted. The Constitutional Court then granted its request to declare the result invalid.

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Tags: Presidential elections, Austria, Norbert Hofer, Wolfgang Sobotka

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