Voting cards for repeat Austrian presidential election plagued by further problems

The repeat run-off round for the Austrian presidential election to be held on Oct. 2 appears to again be subject to controversy surrounding voting cards, Austria Press Agency reported Monday.

The initial run-off round had been held on May 22, though issues with the voting cards among other things had led the Constitutional Court to order it be re-held.

New reports indicate that problems with about 1,000 voting cards have now been revealed, particularly in the electoral district of Bregenz in the nation's west.

The instances appear primarily centred around defective envelopes, that have only in at most three cases actually been handed on to voters.

Interior Ministry elections administrator Robert Stein said Monday afternoon a reprint of the voting cards in question could take place.

He said outside of Bregenz between 10 and 20 electoral districts had also reported isolated cases numbering in the single or double-digit range.

The ministry did not wish to speculate on whether yet another challenge to the outcome of the election would be possible due to the production faults, but noted that it would have to be enough to potentially alter the final outcome.

Stein said this would only involve actual voting cards, for which he expected faulty ones to number in the single-digit range.

Interior Minister Wolfgang Sobotka has also ruled out a rescheduling of the Oct. 2 election. Endit