Preparations for Austrian presidential election running smoothly: official

Austrian Interior Minister Wolfgang Sobotka on Tuesday said all preparations for Sunday's presidential election have been running smoothly.

"I am in good spirits that we will be able to conduct the election on December 4 as would be expected of us as standard," he said, according to an Austria Press Agency report.

The election had initially been held on May 22, though the result was annulled, with irregularities in the voting procedure citied. The initial repeat election scheduled for October 2 was then also rescheduled due to technical problems with voting envelopes.

Following these issues, all voting authorities have over the past few weeks been informed of correct procedures, provided with online E-learning tools, and have had all necessary electoral documents distributed on schedule, Sobotka said. Endit