The bad news today is that Norbert Hofer of the Freedom Party lost his bid for the presidency of Austria. With 92 per cent of the votes counted, the Leftist candidate Alexander Van der Bellen has won 53.3 per cent to Hofer’s 46.7 per cent.

The president of Austria is a figurehead, but the election of Hofer would have been a sign that a majority of Austrians want to stop the flood of Muslim immigrants into their country which European governments, and the undemocratic European Union, have brought upon the continent.

Also today, Italians vote in a referendum. Here there is more hope that the result will shake the European status quo.

The Independent reports:

As Italy hovers on the brink of a referendum result that some experts have suggested could ultimately lead to the destruction of the eurozone, all eyes in Europe are turned towards Rome.

If Italians vote in favour of Prime Minister Matteo Renzi’s proposals to streamline the Italian government and wipe out two-thirds of the senate, it will be a boost for the centre-left politician’s reform agenda.

But if they vote against – and there is every suggestion it will be a close vote – he is expected to resign, which could trigger political instability and bring new turmoil to Italy’s battered banks.

As soon as voting ends and counting begins at 11pm local time, the results of exit polling will be announced.

Half an hour later, the first projections – based on preliminary counting – are set to be broadcast.

If there is a landslide victory for either side, the result could become apparent after the second project, which is expected sometime between between midnight and one in the morning.

Yet if the result is extremely close, the world could have to wait until all the votes are counted, which could be as late as 3am. …

Before the official blackout on polls on 18 November, there was a projected 53.5 per cent to 46.5 per cent lead for the [anti-Renzi]  “No” camp”. …

This has been a of year of massive protest votes – in the form of Brexit and Donald Trump’s US Presidential victory.

And the “No” vote is being championed by the populist Five Star movement, led by the comedian Beppe Grillo, an admirer of Mr Trump. …

If new elections are called for early 2017 it’s conceivable that the Five Star movement could come to power.

The party is currently on around 28 per cent in the polls, not far behind Mr Renzi’s Democratic party, which has a 32 per cent share.

An emphatic referendum victory might give Five Star the momentum it needs to get into pole position.  …

Five Star has said it would hold a referendum to decide whether Italy should leave the eurozone.

Italy is so large and economically important that many think the single currency itself would break up entirely if its people did vote to depart. …

Eight Italian banks are expected to collapse in the near future if the nation votes “No”.

If the end result is that Italy follows Britain out of the EU,  the benefits of the “No” vote succeeding today will be enormous.

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Update from Breitbart:

Italian PM Matteo Renzi has suffered a heavy defeat in a key referendum on constitutional reform … 

The projection by the Piepoli Institute/IPR for state broadcaster RAI estimated 57-61% will vote “No”, compared to 39-43% for “Yes”.

The projection points to an even wider margin of defeat for Mr Renzi than was suggested by three exit polls released immediately after polls closed. …

Opposition parties were quick to call for Mr Renzi to go.

“Renzi is going to go and with him the powerful lobbies who were also defeated”, Renato Brunetta, the parliamentary leader of former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi’s centre-right Forza Italia party.

Matteo Salvini, the head of the Northern League party, said Mr Renzi should quit “in the coming minutes” and called for early elections. …

Spearheaded by the populist Five Star Movement, the biggest rival to Mr Renzi’s Democratic party, the “No” campaign took advantage of the PM’s declining popularity, a struggling economy and problems caused by tens of thousands of migrants arriving from Africa.

The vote is a major victory for Five Star leader Beppe Grillo, who had urged Italians to follow their gut instincts. …

The result is another blow to the European Union, which is struggling to overcome a number of crises and was keen for Mr Renzi to continue his reform drive. …

Some analysts fear a deeper crisis of investor confidence that could derail a rescue scheme for Italy’s most indebted banks, triggering a wider financial crisis across the eurozone.