Absentee ballot count to decide Austrian election

VIENNA – With direct ballots counted but a final result still outstanding, Sunday’s elections for Austria’s presidency were too close to call a winner between a right-wing politician and a challenger whose views stand in stark opposition to his rival’s anti-immigrant and Eurosceptic message.

The direct votes gave right-winger Norbert Hofer 51.9 percent to 48.1 percent for Alexander Van der Bellen, a Greens politician running as an independent. But final projections that included still-to-be-counted absentee ballots put each at 50 percent with Van der Bellen narrowly ahead.

Those nearly 700,000 absentee ballots will be counted Monday, making them the likely decider by a minuscule portion of votes, considering that 4.48 million people voted directly Sunday.

Candidates backed by the long-dominant Social Democratic and centrist People’s Party were eliminated in last month’s first round, which means neither party would hold the presidency for the first time since the end of World War II. That reflects disillusionment with the status quo, and their approach to the migrant crisis and other issues.

But Sunday’s voting revealed a profound split over which direction the nation should now take, particularly over migration and the future of the European Union.

Van der Bellen’s supporters back liberal refugee policies and a strong, unified EU. Hofer’s Freedom Party wants closed borders and campaigns consistently on strong anti-EU sentiment within the country.

On Sunday, Hofer sought to soothe international fears that he is a radical far-righter. The Austria Press Agency cited him as telling foreign reporters Sunday that he is “really OK,” and “not a dangerous person.”