Elections in Austria
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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]
In some cases, a referendum can be called on by the Austrian Parliament.
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.
Contents
Eligibility
Austrian 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 sentenced to 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. Until 2011, members of current or former ruling houses were ineligible for the office.[4]
Latest elections
2013 Parliamentary election
| Parties | Votes | +/− | % | +/− | Seats | +/− | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Social Democratic Party of Austria (Sozialdemokratische Partei Österreichs) | 1,258,605 | −171,601 | 26.82 | −2.44 | 52 | −5 | |
| Austrian People's Party (Österreichische Volkspartei) | 1,125,876 | −143,780 | 23.99 | −1.99 | 47 | −4 | |
| Freedom Party of Austria (Freiheitliche Partei Österreichs) | 962,313 | +105,284 | 20.51 | +2.97 | 40 | +6 | |
| The Greens – The Green Alternative (Die Grünen – Die Grüne Alternative) | 582,657 | +72,721 | 12.42 | +1.99 | 24 | +4 | |
| Team Stronach (Team Stronach für Österreich) | 268,679 | New | 5.73 | New | 11 | New | |
| NEOS – The New Austria (NEOS – Das Neue Österreich) | 232,946 | New* | 4.96 | New* | 9 | New* | |
| Alliance for the Future of Austria (Bündnis Zukunft Österreich) | 165,746 | -357,187 | 3.53 | –7.17 | 0 | –21 | |
| Communist Party of Austria (Kommunistische Partei Österreichs) | 48,175 | +10,813 | 1.03 | +0.27 | 0 | — | |
| Pirate Party of Austria (Piratenpartei Österreichs) | 36,265 | New | 0.77 | New | 0 | New | |
| Christian Party of Austria (Christliche Partei Österreichs) | 6,647 | –24,433 | 0.14 | –0.50 | 0 | — | |
| Others | 4,998 | — | 0.11 | — | 0 | — | |
| Invalid/blank votes | 89,503 | –14,140 | — | — | — | — | |
| Total | 4,782,410 | –208,542 | 100.0 | — | 183 | — | |
| Registered voters/turnout | 6,384,308 | 74.91 | –3.90 | — | — | ||
| Source: Austrian Interior Ministry | |||||||
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2010 Presidential election
| 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 | |||
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Past elections
 Elections and referendums in Austria |
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Referendums
Austrian constitution defines two types of referendums on the federal level: binding referendum and non-binding referendum.
Binding referendum
Binding referendum is mandatory:
- if the President should be removed from office before the end of his term (Article 60, Section 6 of the Federal Constitution), and
- in case of comprehensive change of the Federal Constitution (Article 44, Section 3 of the Federal Constitution).
Binding referendum is facultative (not mandatory) in case of non-comprehensive changes in the Federal Constitution. Such facultative referendum is to be conducted if at least one third of the members of the National Council or the Federal Council requests it.
There was only one binding referendum in post-1945 Austria: European Union membership referendum was called because accession to European Union was deemed to be a comprehensive change to Constitution.
Non-binding referendum
The National Council has the power to call on a non-binding referendum on matters of great importance. Such referendum is called by majority of members of the National Council. Results of such a referendum are advisory. There were two such referendums in post-1945 Austria:
- nuclear power referendum in 1978
- conscription referendum in 2013
In both cases the "no" option won, and in both cases the National Council accepted the results of the referendum and acted accordingly.
See also
References
- ↑ countriestudies.us - Austrian Electoral System, retrieved 18 May 2010
- ↑ Austrian Ministry of Interior - Elections Overview, retrieved 18 May 2010
- ↑ Austrian Ministry of Interior - Federal System, retrieved 18 May 2010
- ↑ President of Austria: Electoral procedure, retrieved 22 October 2014
External links
- Adam Carr's Election Archive
- Parties and elections
- Austrian Federal Ministry of the Interior: Elections
- NSD: European Election Database - Austria publishes regional level election data; allows for comparisons of election results, 1990-2008
