A re-run of the second round of the Austrian Presidential Election took place on Sunday, 4 December 2016. This followed the decision of the Austrian Constitutional Court that the result of the initial second round, which took place on 22 May, was invalid. Independent candidate and former Green Party leader, Alexander Van der Bellen, defeated far-right Freedom Party candidate, Norbert Hofer, to replace President Heinz Fischer, who had left office on 8 July.

Background

Six candidates stood in the first round of the Austrian Presidential Election on 24 April 2016. Far-right Freedom Party candidate, Norbert Hofer, topped the poll with 35 per cent of the vote, followed by Independent candidate and former Green Party leader, Alexander Van der Bellen, with 21 per cent. These two candidates then proceeded to a second round of elections on 22 May, as they had won the highest number of votes but neither had managed to win an absolute majority.

Mr Van der Bellen won the second round of the election by a margin of 0.6 per cent. On 1 July, one week before Mr Van der Bellen was due to take office, the Austrian Constitutional Court declared the result of the second round on 22 May invalid, detecting irregularities in the counting of votes, following an official complaint submitted by the Freedom Party. The processing of postal votes had begun in a number of counting centres on the eve of the election rather than the day after, and electoral observers were not present when the counting began in these centres. The Court found no evidence that the outcome of the Presidential vote had been actively manipulated; however a total of 77,926 votes had been affected by the irregularities, which, in such a tight contest, the Court believed could have changed the outcome of the election. This was the first time a ruling of this type had been made in Austria. While re-run elections had been called in local communal councils on two occasions previously, never before had a re-run election affected the entire country. The re-run election was due to be held on 2 October, however further controversy arose when the adhesive seals on the postal vote envelopes were found to have come unstuck. The faulty glue on the envelopes resulted in the vote being postponed until 4 December.

The role of President of Austria, elected as head of state for a term of six years, is largely ceremonial. However, the position does retain certain powers, including the dissolution of the lower house of Parliament, the Nationalrat, and a formal role in the forming and dissolving of governments. This will be the first time since the end of World War II that the President will not be backed by either the centre-left Social Democratic Party of Austria or the centre-right Austrian People’s Party, which between them have effectively ruled the country since 1951.

Result

In polls taken prior to the vote on 4 December, it had been difficult to predict a winner, given the close race between the two candidates. However, in the first official results released, Mr Van der Bellen had won 53.5 per cent of the vote, with Mr Hofer at 46.4 per cent, a much bigger gap than expected by many commentators. Turnout was higher than in the initial second round vote on 22 May, at 74 per cent of the electorate. Mr Hofer conceded defeat soon after voting closed, vowing to contest the next Presidential election in six years and the Parliamentary elections due to take place before the end of 2018.

Reaction

Mr Van der Bellen credited his victory to the “engagement of hundreds of thousands of people” who helped develop his campaign, also saying “I have always campaigned for a pro-European Austria. This is about values, freedom, equality and solidarity”. He vowed to speak to all voters, including those of the Freedom Party, acknowledging the real concerns across the political spectrum. President-elect Van der Bellen actively supports liberal immigration policies and is similarly liberal on many social issues. The Freedom Party is currently leading in opinion polls for the upcoming general election, however President-elect Van der Bellen has promised to block the formation of a Freedom Party government, should it win.

President-elect Van der Bellen’s victory has been hailed by pro-EU politicians across Europe. President of the European Parliament, Martin Schulz, described the victory as a “heavy defeat of nationalism and anti-European, backward-looking populism”, while French President, Franҫois Hollande, stated “the Austrian people have chosen Europe, and they have chosen to be open”.

A Constitutional referendum took place in Italy on Sunday, 4 December 2016. The referendum concerned reforms outlined by the Italian Prime Minister, Matteo Renzi, to bring about changes to the institutional structure of Italian politics. The referendum was defeated by a wide margin, resulting in Prime Minister Renzi tendering his resignation and potential political and financial instability in the coming months.