Austria postpones presidential election rerun over faulty ballot envelopes

Austria has postponed the rerun of the country’s presidential election initially scheduled for October 2, citing faulty ballot envelopes.

Austrian Interior Minister Wolfgang Sobotka made the announcement on Monday, saying the rerun election will be held on December 4, due to the poor quality of some envelope adhesive seals.

Austria voted for a new president in May this year, when Alexander Van der Bellen, the Greens Party nominee, narrowly defeated Norbert Hofer of the anti-refugee Freedom Party (FPO) by just 31,000 votes.

However, Austria's highest court annulled the result in July after the FPO contested the election outcome, claiming major irregularities in the polling procedure.

The court reportedly questioned 60 witnesses, saying most of them confirmed violations in the counting of postal ballots.

Opinion polls in the European country show that Hofer has gained a 4 to 6 percentage point edge over Bellen in recent weeks.

Austria has been without a president since July 8 when Heinz Fischer stepped down. The president traditionally plays a largely ceremonial role in Austria, but he enjoys the power to fire the cabinet.

Hofer is highly critical of his country’s policies in accepting large numbers of refugees, while Van der Bellen, who has revealed to be a “child of refugees,” has accused his opponent of having an authoritarian view of the president’s powers.

SS