Austrian Far-Right Candidate Narrowly Loses Presidential Vote: Mail-in votes

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New York Times: Alexander Van der Bellen, a 72-year-old economics professor and former Green Party leader, won Austria’s cliffhanger presidential election on Monday, narrowly defeating his far-right rival by the slimmest of margins.

Mr. Van der Bellen’s victory was announced by the interior minister, Wolfgang Sobotka. Mr. Van der Bellen won 50.3 percent of the vote, and Mr. Hofer 49.7 percent, a difference of about 30,000 votes….

Sunday’s runoff turned into a cliffhanger as the popular vote was counted and showed an ever-narrowing lead for Mr. Hofer. The Austrian public service broadcaster ORF projected that Mr. Van der Bellen would win by just 3,000 votes when the record number of requested mail-in ballots was counted on Monday.

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