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Austrian president secures re-election with clear win, avoiding runoff

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Austrian President Alexander Van der Bellen (pictured) won a second six-year term by winning a clear majority vote in an election that avoided a runoff. These projections were based on nearly all votes cast, except for postal ballots.

The former leader of Greens, aged 78, has gained wide popularity through his calm projections during times of national crises such as the collapse of government in 2019 or the resignation of Sebastian Kurz (a year ago) over allegations of corruption that Kurz denies.

Van der Bellen was defeated by Van der Bellen's far-right Freedom Party (FPO), who won a tighter race than an FPO opponent in 2016. All other parties supported the president, including Grandees.

While the Austrian president is primarily a ceremonial position, he also has broad powers that allow him to oversee periods of transition or turbulence. The president is the commander-in-chief of the army. He can also sack the entire government or the chancellor.

"A majority is easy to say, but an absolute majority (more votes than all other candidates) means that one should take this seriously. Van der Bellen said that although I wasn't sure it would happen, it did and it is a great feeling," Van der Bellen shared with ORF, the national broadcaster. Van der Bellen faced six male opponents in an all-male matchup.

Van der Bellen was at 56.1%, with a margin error of 1.1 percentage point. 95% of votes were counted in polling stations. Walter Rosenkranz, FPO, was Van der Bellen's nearest rival at 17.9%.

"Alexander Van der Bellen managed to make sure that in the first round he would be the next president. Rosenkranz stated that he congratulated him for this feat to ORF.

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Postal ballots will not be included in the Sunday vote count. However, projections of the final result are made for all votes, including postal ballots. These projections have been highly reliable in the past.

ARGE Wahlen produced a separate projection for the news agency APA. It yielded nearly identical results as SORA's. Van der Bellen was on 56% and Rosenkranz 17.6%, based upon 88% of votes cast at polling stations.

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