Austrian Supreme Court Invalidates Presidential Election Results

On Friday, July 2, the Austrian Supreme Court annulled the results of the final stage of the recent presidential election, giving the leader of the Freedom Party of Austria another chance to become the first far-right leader among EU member states if victorious. According to Reuters, this ruling comes a week after the British referendum, which pleased European parties opposed to the EU, including Austria's far-right Freedom Party. Like the upcoming British referendum within the EU, issues such as employment and immigration were significant in the Austrian presidential election, where the leader of the People's Party narrowly lost. Norbert Hofer, the candidate from the People's Party, lost to Alexander Van der Bellen, the former leader of the Green Party, with a vote difference of less than one percent, approximately 31,000 votes. The Constitutional Court found that electoral laws regarding postal votes had been violated more than twice while reviewing a complaint from Heinz-Christian Strache, the leader of the People's Party. The court stated, 'It is clear to the Constitutional Court that electoral laws must be implemented with complete precision and decisiveness.' The repeat election will once again raise issues that have completely divided Austrian society. In previous election discussions, urban residents were pitted against rural inhabitants, and skilled and semi-skilled workers concerned about immigration and declining living standards were contrasted with educated individuals. Reuters adds that during the court's review, witnesses explained multiple violations in the counting of postal votes, including counting votes before the legal start time the morning after the election and counting votes in the absence of political party observers, which was apparently due to election officials' haste to announce results more quickly. The Austrian Constitutional Court found no evidence of fraud in the vote counting, but the mere possibility of these issues affecting the election results was sufficient for the court to accept the complaint and order a repeat vote. Violations of regulations regarding vote counting have raised public concern in Austria. The Austrian Interior Minister, responsible for conducting elections and accused by several witnesses of pressuring election officials for quicker results, stated after the court's ruling that 'there have been inaccuracies.' The Austrian government must now determine the date for the re-election of the president. It is unpredictable how the voting outcome will change in the tumultuous political atmosphere of Europe post-Brexit. The results of the British referendum may have strengthened populism, or its consequences may have frightened people away from populism.