Independent van der Bellen wins Austrian presidential vote

Record ID: 102356

  • Title: Independent van der Bellen wins Austrian presidential vote
  • Date: 23rd May 2016
  • Summary: VIENNA, AUSTRIA (MAY 23, 2016) (REUTERS) ****WARNING CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY*** AUSTRIAN INTERIOR MINISTER, WOLFGANG SOBOTKA, ENTERING NEWS CONFERENCE JOURNALISTS (SOUNDBITE) (German) AUSTRIAN INTERIOR MINISTER, WOLFGANG SOBOTKA, SAYING: "I have a preliminary result of the second ballot for the Austrian presidential elections 2016, which I would like to announce as follows. The number of eligible voters was 6,382,507. 4,643,154 votes have been cast, this is a turnout of 72.7 percent of voters. Of these, 165,212 votes were invalid and 4,477,942 valid." CAMERA (SOUNDBITE) (German) AUSTRIAN INTERIOR MINISTER, WOLFGANG SOBOTKA, SAYING: "These valid votes are spread amongst the candidates. 2,223,458 votes are allotted to engineer Norbert Hofer, this means 49.7 percent. 2,254,484 are allotted to doctor Alexander van der Bellen, this means 50.3 percent. The state election authorities are going to announce the final result of yesterday's election on Wednesday, June 1, 2016. I would like to pass on my congratulations to the newly elected president." AUSTRIAN FLAG AUSTRIAN AND EUROPEAN FLAGS
  • Embargoed: 7th June 2016 16:45
  • Keywords: Austria president elections Sobotka
  • Location: VIENNA, AUSTRIA / INTERNET
  • City: VIENNA, AUSTRIA / INTERNET
  • Country: Austria
  • Topics: Government/Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA0014J14W1Z
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Austria elected a 72-year-old former leader of the Greens party to be its next president, narrowly avoiding becoming the first country in the European Union to vote in a far-right candidate as head of state.
    After an election on Sunday (May 22) that was too close to call, Austrian officials spent most of Monday (May 23) counting hundreds of thousands of postal ballots which ended up vaulting Alexander van der Bellen past anti-immigration Freedom Party rival Norbert Hofer.
    The Interior Minister congratulated the new president, who won 50.3 percent of the vote compared to Hofer's 49.7 percent.
    "These valid votes are spread amongst the candidates. 2,223,458 votes are allotted to engineer Norbert Hofer, this means 49.7 percent. 2,254,484 are allotted to doctor Alexander van der Bellen, this means 50.3 percent. The state election authorities are going to announce the final result of yesterday's election on Wednesday, June 1, 2016. I would like to pass on my congratulations to the newly elected president," Wolfgang Sobotka told reporters.
    Hofer conceded defeat in a post on his Facebook page, thanking his supporters and telling them not to be despondent.
    "Of course I am sad today," he said. "I would have liked to take care of our wonderful country for you as president."
    Hofer's defeat averts an embarrassing setback for Europe's political establishment, which is increasingly under threat from populist parties that have profited from concerns about the region's refugee crisis and years of weak growth and high unemployment.
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