Austrian Constitutional Court annuls presidential election

Austrian Constitutional Court annuls presidential election

The election in Austria was the focus of the European public, as it was seen as a possible turning point for the entire continent - should a right-wing party won the presidency.

The Constitutional Court held public hearings of 67 witnesses, many of whom pointed to the disregard of electoral procedures, and the counting of the votes submitted by mail.

Namely, many electoral commissions counted these votes on election day, instead as proscribed by electoral legislation, a day after.

At the same time, in some municipalities these votes were counted without the presence of the members of election commissions, who nonetheless signed the records.

According to the daily Guardian, the court ruled that electoral laws had been violated, "although there was no evidence that the election was actively manipulated."

It remains unknown at this time when the repeated voting will be organized, and whether the ruling applies only to the second round.

After the first round, while Hofer was in the lead, the country's government collapsed.

In the end, Alexander Van der Bellen won the ballot by 0.6 percent.