Unprecedented glitch in the election: New SPÖ leader was only second

Burgenland's provincial governor Hans Peter Doskozil initially rejoices after the election as party chairman of the SPÖ. © Helmut Fohringer/APA/dpa

When the Austrian Social Democrats elect their new chairman at the weekend, Hans Peter Doskozil seems to be winning. But that was not the case. During the counting, the votes were swapped.

The Austrian Social Democrats have made an unprecedented breakdown in the election for party chairman at the weekend: The opposition party SPÖ announced that it was not Hans Peter Doskozil, who was elected as the new party leader, who won the election on Saturday - but his competitor Andreas Babler. During the counting, the votes were swapped, said the head of the electoral commission, Michaela Grubesa.

The error happened during the transfer to an Excel spreadsheet. In fact, Doskozil received 280 votes, but Babler received 317 votes. The error was discovered by chance during a recount on Monday. It had become necessary to clarify why a voice was missing. It turned out to be invalid. The party apologized to Doskozil, Grubesa said. The new party leader is now Babler. Dpa