VIENNA (Reuters) – Austrian President Alexander Van der Bellen gained a second six-year time period by securing greater than 50% of the vote in an election on Sunday to keep away from a runoff, based on preliminary projections launched shortly after the shut of the vote.

A SORA pollster projection for nationwide broadcaster ORF based mostly on a partial vote rely places Van der Bellen, a 78-year-old former Greens chief, at 54.6% with a margin of error of two.1 proportion factors. His closest rival was far-right Freedom Celebration candidate Walter Rosenkranz with 18.9%.