Austrian authorities admit the re-run decision takes them into a legal no man’s land, particularly over whether to update the electoral register to take into account new and deceased voters – but they say they are determined to hold a legally watertight poll.
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But Hofer and his party, the ultra-nationalist FPÖ, claimed there were irregularities in the postal vote recount.
The Austrian government has been forced to postpone a re-run of the presidential election after voters complained of faulty envelopes.
Interior Minister Wolfgang Sobotka said the issue over an ineffective sealing mechanism could not be fixed in time for voting on 2 October.
A re-run of May’s vote was ordered after the far-right Freedom Party challenged the result.
Austria has been without a president since Heinz Fischer resigned on July 8.
An opened envelope received by the election board would invalidate the vote it contained.
In the first attempt at an election on May 22, Green candidate Alexander van der Bellen won against right-wing Norbert Hofer by a slim margin. The court found Friday that though rules had been broken in a way that could have influenced the results, there was no proof the vote count was manipulated.
He added that the possible new dates – either November 27 or December 4 – will be announced once the Parliament approves the postponement request.
It ran a presidential election campaign demanding tighter immigration and taking cracks at Austria’s ruling pro-EU grand coalition of Social Democrats and conservatives.
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The role of Austria’s president is largely ceremonial but nevertheless, if the country were to elect a far-right head of state it would send shockwaves throughout the European Union.
