But with 4.48 million direct votes cast, the nearly 900,000 absentee ballots issued will likely make them the likely vote decider. Hofer and Van der Bellen drew clear lines between themselves during the campaign. Van der Bellen was ahead with less than 3,000 votes. Asked as he arrived to vote Sunday what differentiated him from Hofer, Van der Bellen said: “I think I’m pro-European and there are some doubts as far as Mr. Hofer is concerned.” Both right-winger Norbert Hofer and Alexander Van der Bellen, a Greens politician running as an independent, had 50 per cent support with the direct votes tallied and absentee votes to be counted by Monday.

Source: thestar May 22, 2016 08:43 UTC