Austrian Constitutional Court Rules May 22 Presidential Elections Rerun

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The Austrian Constitutional Court ruled out Friday that the country should stage a rerun of the presidential election following a complaint by the far-right Freedom Party of Austria (FPO) about "irregularities and failures" during the vote counting.

"The second tour of the presidential elections must be held again throughout the entire Austria. Elections are the pillar of our democracy. The decision… does not make anyone a loser or a winner but aimed at enhancing trust in our law and our democracy," head of the Constitutional Court Gerhart Holzinger said announcing the decision.

"The presidential elections must be hold again throughout the entire Austria," the spokesman for the Austrian Constitutional Court, Christian Neuwirth, posted in his official Twitter account.

On May 22, Austrians voted in the second round of the presidential elections, choosing between independent candidate Alexander Van der Bellen and FPO candidate Norbert Hofer. Van der Bellen was elected president after the authorities counted postal votes, despite Hofer leading in exit polls. Following the announcement of the results, the FPO filed a complaint with the Constitutional Court.

The FPO claimed that about 700,000 postal ballots were handled with violations in 94 out of 117 districts. It also insisted that citizens under 16 years old and foreigners were allowed to vote which contradicts the country's constitutional law. FPO candidate Norbert Hofer lost by just under 31,000 votes.