Vienna, June 5, (dpa/GNA) – There were red faces in Vienna on Monday as Austria’s Social Democratic Party (SPÖ), revealed that the victor in a party vote for chairman at the weekend had actually come second.
It was not Hans Peter Doskozil who won the party vote on Saturday, but his competitor Andreas Babler, the party announced on Monday.
The votes were swapped during the count, the head of the election commission, Michaela Grubesa, explained.
“This is certainly a low point for Austrian Social Democracy,” Doskozil said of the counting error. Doskozil, who is premier of Burgenland state, conceded defeat.
Of course he would respect the result, Doskozil added, and congratulated his rival Babler.
Grubesa, of the election commission, said the error occurred when results were transferred to an Excel spreadsheet.
In actual fact, Babler got 317 votes and Doskozil got 280 votes.
The error was accidentally discovered during a recount on Monday. It had become necessary to explain why one was unaccounted for. It turned out to be invalid.
The party has apologized to Doskozil, Grubesa said.
Babler is now the party’s new leader.
GNA