Austria on Monday delayed a re-run of a knife-edge presidential election as faulty seals on postal ballots scuppered its second attempt to organise a ballot that could give western Europe its first far-right head of state in decades.
The country's constitutional court scrapped the result of the first election in May due to irregularities in counting postal ballots.
ERWIN SCHERIAU | AFP | Getty Images
Candidates for the Austrian presidential elections Norbert Hofer (left) and Alexander Van der Bellen shake hands during the Airshow 'Airpower 16' in Zeltweg, Austria.
Interior Minister Wolfgang Sobotka said the re-run, scheduled for Oct. 2, had also been postponed.
"The reason is a defective envelope," he said, suggesting a return to ballot forms used in previous elections after some postal voters complained the glue on their papers was not working properly.
Asked at a news conference if the double setback might damage Austria's reputation, Sobotka said: "The laugh is always on the loser."
The postponement refocuses attention on an election that had already set alarm bells ringing among Austria's European Union peers.
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