Austria’s president likely to be re-elected as ‘safe’ choice

By EMILY SCHULTHEIS
Associated Press

VIENNA (AP) — Austrian voters will head to the polls Sunday in the first round of the country’s presidential election. The race is widely expected to hand incumbent President Alexander Van der Bellen a second term. The main question is whether his victory will come when the country holds the first round of its presidential election on Sunday or if the election will go to a November runoff. Van der Bellen has held the Austrian presidency through a period of domestic political instability, a global pandemic and the war in Ukraine. He has pitched himself to voters as the stable option at a time of instability and has the implicit or explicit backing of most major parties.