Austrian presidential election still too close to call

World Today

Austrian presidential election still too close to call

Austria’s presidential elections are on a knife-edge – with the result too close to call. CCTV’s Guy Henderson reports from Vienna.

Polls predicted Austria would elect a far right wing president. With most of the votes counted – it’s too close to call.

According to Wolfgang Sobotka, Austrian Interior Minister, Nobert Hofer has 51.9 percent of the vote, while Prof Van Der Bellen has 48.1 percent. Postal votes will be counted on May 23, and the final result will be announced in the early evening hours.

The far right Freedom Party’s Norbert Hofer, now faces a nervous wait.

“I’m still a little bit confident – but it’s so close, nobody knows,” said Hofer

Turn-out looks to be unusually high, for what is, mostly, a ceremonial role.

What’s already clear is that not all those who said they’d vote far right – actually ended up doing so. That might bring some relief to other European governments facing similar pressures. But, with a great many votes left to count, it could still go either way.