Austria’s highest court has annulled last month’s presidential election narrowly lost by the far-right candidate of the Freedom Party, the BBC reports.
The party had challenged the result, saying that postal votes had been improperly handled.
The Freedom Party candidate, Norbert Hofer, lost the election to the former leader of the Greens, Alexander Van der Bellen, by less than a percentage point.
The election will now be re-run.
If elected, Mr Hofer will become the first far-right head of state of an EU country.
Following the court’s order to re-run the vote, President Heinz Fischer will be replaced on a temporary basis by three parliamentary officials, including Mr Hofer.
