Elections in Austria

This article provides information on elections and election results in Austria.

On a federal level, there are two main elections: for head of state (Federal President) every six years, and for the 183 seats of the National Council (Nationalrat) every five years by proportional representation.

Austria has a multi-party system. From 1945 to 1986 Austria had two main parties, with a third party also winning seats in the National Council. Since 1986 there have been generally four parties, for a few years even five. At least 4% of the popular vote, or a parliamentary seat in one of the regional constituencies, is needed for representation in the National Council.^[1]

The voting age has recently been lowered from 18 to 16 in all federal elections, following some states which had lowered it for state and local elections before that.

[edit] Eligibility

Austrian citizens who are at least 16 years old on the day of election are eligible to vote at all elections, citizens who are 18 years or older may stand at elections. Additionally citizens of European Union member states with a permanent residence in Austria may vote at European Union and municipal elections.^[2] Citizens who are convicted of more than one year of imprisonment lose their voting rights.^[3] An exception to the rule is the presidential election, where the minimum age to stand as candidate is 35 and members of current or former ruling houses are ineligible for office.^[4]

[edit] Latest elections

[edit] 2008 Parliamentary election

e • d **Summary of the 28 September 2008 National Council of Austria election results**
Parties		Votes	+/−	%	+/−	Seats	+/−
	Social Democratic Party of Austria (Sozialdemokratische Partei Österreichs)	1,430,206	−233,780	29.26	−6.08	57	−11
	Austrian People's Party (Österreichische Volkspartei)	1,269,656	−346,837	25.98	−8.35	51	−15
	Freedom Party of Austria (Freiheitliche Partei Österreichs)	857,029	+337,431	17.54	+6.50	34	+13
	BZÖ – Jörg Haider's List (BZÖ – Liste Jörg Haider)	522,933	+329,394	10.70	+6.59	21	+14
	The Greens – The Green Alternative (Die Grünen – Die Grüne Alternative)	509,936	−10,194	10.43	−0.62	20	−1
	Liberal Forum (Liberales Forum)	102,249	*	2.09	*	0	–1 ¶
	Citizens' Forum Austria Fritz Dinkhauser's List (Bürgerforum Österreich Liste Fritz Dinkhauser)	86,194	*	1.76	*	0	*
	Communist Party of Austria (Kommunistische Partei Österreichs)	37,362	−10,216	0.76	−0.25	0	—
	Independent Citizens' Initiative Save Austria (Unabhängige Bürgerinitiative Rettet Österreich)	35,718	*	0.73	*	0	*
	The Christians (Die Christen)	31,080	*	0.64	*	0	*
	Animal Rights Party earth–human–animals–nature (Tierrechtspartei earth–human–animals–nature) ^[2]	2,224	*	0.05	*	0	*
	Left (Linke) ^[1]	2,138	–119†	0.04	;±0.00†	0	†
	Dipl.-Ing. Karlheinz Klement (Dipl.-Ing. Karlheinz Klement) ^[3]	347	*	0.01	*	0	*
	List Strong (Liste Stark) ^[3]	237	−75	0.00	–0.01	0	—
	Invalid/blank votes	103,643	—	—	—	—	—
	Total (turnout 78.82%; +0.34%)	4,990,952	—	100.0	—	183	—
Notes: * Did not contest the 2006 election. ¶ Did not contest the 2006 election on its own, but won a seat on the SPÖ's list. ^[1] Contested the election only in Burgenland, Salzburg, Tyrol, Upper Austria and Vienna. † Compared to the Socialist Left Party, which contested the 2006 election and was part of the Left in 2008 election. ^[2] Contested the election only in Vienna. ^[3] Contested the election only in Carinthia.
Source: Nohlen D & Stöver P (2010) Elections in Europe: A data handbook p217

Main article: Austrian legislative election, 2008

[edit] 2010 Presidential election

e • d **Summary of the 25 April 2010 Austrian presidential election results**
Candidates (nominating parties)		Votes	%
	Heinz Fischer (Social Democratic Party of Austria – nominally independent)	2,508,373	79.33
	Barbara Rosenkranz (Freedom Party of Austria)	481,923	15.24
	Rudolf Gehring (Christian Party of Austria)	171,668	5.43
	Valid votes (turnout 53.57%)	3,161,964	100.00
	Invalid votes	242,682	7.13%
	Total votes	3,404,646	53.57%
	Eligible voters	6,355,800
Source: Federal Ministry for the Interior