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Absentee vote cards for repeat Austrian presidential election drop by 20 pct

Xinhua, December 3, 2016 Adjust font size:

The number of absentee voting cards applied by Austrians for the repeat presidential election on Sunday have dropped by 20.2 percent, compared to the initial election in May, the Kurier reported on Friday.

This has brought the total number down to 708,185, from 885,437 for the May 22 run-off election, potentially indicating a drop in interest from eligible voters.

The decline of about 20 percent was noted across all states in the country except for Carinthia and Vorarlberg that saw much lower declines of about five percent and 12 percent respectively.

Some experts have claimed that the drop in applications for absentee voting cards was also anticipated, with many Austrians during the initial election choosing to enjoy spring weather and send their vote via mail.

It was further noted that the number of absentee voting cards sent to Austrians living abroad increased, from 38,931 in May to 54,812 for the repeat election.

The total number of Austrians eligible to vote including new young voters has risen from some 6.38 million in May, to a current almost 6.4 million people. Endit