Jump to content

2023 Lower Austrian state election

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
2023 Lower Austrian state election

← 2018 29 January 2023 2028 →

All 56 seats in the Landtag of Lower Austria
29 seats needed for a majority
All 9 seats in the state government
Turnout922,253 (71.6%)
Increase 5.0%
  First party Second party Third party
 
Leader Johanna Mikl-Leitner Udo Landbauer Franz Schnabl
Party ÖVP FPÖ SPÖ
Last election 29 seats, 49.6% 8 seats, 14.8% 13 seats, 23.9%
Seats won 23 14 12
Seat change Decrease 6 Increase 6 Decrease 1
Popular vote 359,338 217,639 185,861
Percentage 39.9% 24.2% 20.7%
Swing Decrease 9.7% Increase 9.4% Decrease 3.2%

  Fourth party Fifth party
 
Leader Helga Krismer Indra Collini
Party Greens NEOS
Last election 3 seats, 6.4% 3 seats, 5.2%
Seats won 4 3
Seat change Increase 1 Steady 0
Popular vote 68,276 60,024
Percentage 7.6% 6.7%
Swing Increase 1.2% Increase 1.5%

Results by town/city

Governor before election

Johanna Mikl-Leitner
ÖVP

Elected Governor

Johanna Mikl-Leitner
ÖVP

The 2023 Lower Austrian state election was held on 29 January 2023 to elect the members of the Landtag of Lower Austria.[1][2]

The ruling conservative ÖVP lost almost 10 percentage points and received slightly less than 40 % of the vote, making it their worst election result in Lower Austria's history. As a result, the party also lost its absolute majority in the state parliament (23 of 56 seats, -9), as well as their absolute majority in the state government, losing two of their six seats.

The center-left SPÖ also had its worst election result in history, losing more than 3 percentage points and receiving 20.7 % of the vote. They lost one seat in the Landtag but kept their two state councilors. For the first time since World War II, the SPÖ ended up in third place in a Lower Austrian state election.

The far-right populist FPÖ achieved their best election result yet, winning more than 24 % of the vote, an increase of almost 10 percentage points. Their seat share in the Landtag increased by 6, to 14 seats. They added two seats to their current one in the state government. For the first time ever, they overtook SPÖ and landed in second place in a state election.

The environmentalist Greens improved their election results slightly, winning about 8 % of the vote, up by just over 1 percentage point. They gained an additional seat in the Landtag and regained their parliamentary fraction status by winning a fourth seat again.

The liberal NEOS also improved their previous election result by more than 1 percentage point and received 6.7 %, their best result yet and kept their three seats in the Landtag.

Both the Greens and NEOS failed to receive a seat in the nine-member state government.

Voter turnout was 71.6 %, an increase of 5 percentage points from the previous election, reversing a long-time trend of falling turnout.

Background

[edit]

The Lower Austrian constitution mandates that cabinet positions in the state government (state councillors, German: Landesräte) be allocated amongst parties proportionally to the share of votes won by each; this is known as Proporz. As such, the government is a perpetual coalition of all parties that qualify for at least one state councillor. After the 2018 election, ÖVP had six councillors, the SPÖ two, and the FPÖ one. A party has to win at least 10 to 12 percent of the vote to receive a seat in the state government.[3]

Electoral system

[edit]

The 56 seats of the Landtag of Lower Austria are elected via open list proportional representation in a two-step process. The seats are distributed between twenty multi-member constituencies. For parties to receive any representation in the Landtag, they must either win at least one seat in a constituency directly, or clear a four percent statewide electoral threshold. Seats are distributed in constituencies according to the Hare quota, with any remaining seats allocated using the D'Hondt method at the state level, to ensure overall proportionality between a party's vote share and its share of seats.[4]

Contesting parties

[edit]

The table below lists parties represented in the previous Landtag.

Name Ideology Leader 2018 result
Votes (%) Seats Councillors
ÖVP Austrian People's Party
Österreichische Volkspartei
Conservatism Johanna Mikl-Leitner 49.6%
29 / 56
6 / 9
SPÖ Social Democratic Party of Austria
Sozialdemokratische Partei Österreichs
Social democracy Franz Schnabl[5] 23.9%
13 / 56
2 / 9
FPÖ Freedom Party of Austria
Freiheitliche Partei Österreichs
Right-wing populism
Euroscepticism
Udo Landbauer[6] 14.8%
8 / 56
1 / 9
GRÜNE The Greens – The Green Alternative
Die Grünen – Die Grüne Alternative
Green politics Helga Krismer[5] 6.4%
3 / 56
NEOS NEOS – The New Austria and Liberal Forum
NEOS – Das Neue Österreich und Liberales Forum
Liberalism Indra Collini[7] 5.2%
3 / 56

Parties not currently represented in the state parliament of Lower Austria had until 23 December 2022 to submit the necessary signatures and paperwork to gain ballot access, either in individual constituencies or statewide.

In addition to the 5 parties represented in the state parliament, all of which are on the ballot statewide, another 3 parties gained ballot access:

  • MFG Austria – People Freedom Fundamental Rights: (only in 5/20 constituencies: Baden, Krems, Mödling, St. Pölten and Tulln)
  • KPÖ Plus – offene Liste: (only in 4/20 constituencies: Amstetten, Bruck an der Leitha, St. Pölten and Wiener Neustadt)
  • ZIEL - Dein Ziel: (only in 1/20 constituencies: Amstetten)

Campaign

[edit]

After the Austrian ÖVP-led federal government vetoed Romania and Bulgaria's accession to the Schengen Area, it was accused of having done so out of fear of losing seats in the Lower Austrian state election, with the FPÖ rising in opinion polls.[8]

Opinion polling

[edit]
Polling firm Fieldwork date Sample
size
ÖVP SPÖ FPÖ Grüne NEOS MFG Others Lead
2023 state election 29 Jan 2023 39.9 20.7 24.2 7.6 6.7 0.5 0.4 15.7
Market-Lazarsfeld/ÖSTERREICH 21–22 Jan 2023 800 38 23 25 6 7 1 13
OGM/Kurier 13–19 Jan 2023 1,048 37 23 26 6 7 1 11
Market/DER STANDARD 13–17 Jan 2023 800 39 23 24 6 7 1 15
Market-Lazarsfeld/ÖSTERREICH 11–12 Jan 2023 1,000 38 23 25 6 7 1 13
Unique Research/APA/ATV/Heute/Puls24 9–12 Jan 2023 1,200 40 22 25 6 6 1 15
AKONSULT/Bezirksblätter 4–10 Jan 2023 450 42 19 23 6 6 4 19
IFDD/NÖN 19–30 Dec 2022 800 42 24 19 7 7 1 18
IFDD/NÖN 3 Nov–2 Dec 2022 1,209 41 24 17 8 7 2 1 17
Market/DER STANDARD 14–18 Oct 2022 800 38 25 20 6 8 2 1 13
IFDD, Telemark/NÖN 15–23 Sep 2022 1,400 39 25 16 8 8 3 1 14
Market-Lazarsfeld/ÖSTERREICH August 2022 745 32 29 21 5 9 4 3
IFDD/NÖN 24 Jun–1 Jul 2022 800 41 26 17 6 6 3 1 15
OGM/Kurier 29 Apr–5 May 2022 800 42 22 15 8 6 5 2 20
IFDD/NÖN 21–28 Jan 2022 800 44 22 14 6 7 6 1 22
IFDD/NÖN 10–18 Jun 2021 806 49 20 15 6 8 2 29
2018 state election 28 Jan 2018 49.6 23.9 14.8 6.4 5.2 0.1 25.7

Results

[edit]
Party Votes % +/− Seats +/− Coun. +/−
Austrian People's Party (ÖVP) 359,338 39.93 –9.70 23 –6 4 –2
Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ) 217,639 24.19 +9.43 14 +6 3 +2
Social Democratic Party of Austria (SPÖ) 185,861 20.65 –3.27 12 –1 2 ±0
The Greens – The Green Alternative (GRÜNE) 68,276 7.59 +1.16 4 +1 0
NEOS – The New Austria (NEOS) 60,024 6.67 +1.52 3 ±0 0
MFG Austria – People Freedom Fundamental Rights (MFG) 4,369 0.49 New 0 0
Communist Party of Austria (KPÖ Plus) 3,437 0.38 New 0 0
Your Goal (ZIEL) 893 0.10 New 0 0
Total valid votes 899,837 97.57
Invalid/blank votes 22,416 2.43
Total 922,253 100 56 9
Registered voters/turnout 1,288,838 71.56 +5.00
Source: Lower Austrian Government

Results by constituency

[edit]
Constituency ÖVP SPÖ FPÖ Grüne NEOS Others Total seats Turnout
% S % S % S % S % S %
Amstetten 36.69 1 20.44 27.73 1 6.81 5.91 2.42 2 75.75
Baden 32.83 1 27.97 1 23.00 1 7.91 7.06 1.22 3 66.60
Bruck an der Leitha 36.81 1 26.36 23.15 6.69 5.56 1.42 1 63.40
Gänserndorf 39.51 1 24.89 24.95 5.42 5.22 1 66.90
Gmünd 40.46 23.32 27.16 4.59 4.47 76.45
Hollabrunn 48.32 1 17.39 22.14 7.04 5.10 1 75.70
Horn 53.55 14.03 22.13 5.43 4.87 78.39
Korneuburg 42.46 1 18.68 20.02 10.28 8.56 1 70.06
Krems an der Donau 43.58 1 17.11 23.33 7.21 7.20 1.58 1 76.07
Lilienfeld 37.61 28.16 24.86 4.76 4.60 76.43
Melk 40.20 1 19.12 28.99 1 5.88 5.80 2 76.70
Mistelbach 48.07 1 17.12 22.34 6.72 5.76 1 74.98
Mödling 38.24 1 20.44 15.82 13.36 11.11 1.03 1 68.23
Neunkirchen 35.81 1 24.63 28.87 1 5.24 5.45 2 72.20
Sankt Pölten 36.40 20.98 23.09 9.52 7.43 2.58 70.73
Scheibbs 43.39 17.69 26.67 5.85 6.40 78.34
Tulln 42.65 1 16.90 19.65 10.60 8.77 1.44 1 71.32
Waidhofen an der Thaya 46.46 13.04 30.58 5.00 4.91 76.56
Wiener Neustadt 36.68 1 21.12 28.96 1 6.09 5.90 1.24 2 66.59
Zwettl 48.97 1 10.85 29.67 5.33 5.18 1 79.32
Remaining seats 9 11 9 4 3 36
Total 39.93 23 20.65 12 24.19 14 7.59 4 6.67 3 0.97 56 71.56
Source: Lower Austrian Government

Aftermath

[edit]
Sven Hergovich
Gottfried Waldhäusl

After the election, the SPÖ replaced their party leader Franz Schnabl with Sven Hergovich - the current Lower Austrian leader of the Austrian Labor Market Service for the unemployed (AMS).

Due to the Proporz system in Lower Austria, the ÖVP now gets 4 of the 9 state government councilors, the FPÖ 3 and the SPÖ 2.

Official talks between the ÖVP and the other parties to create a possible coalition or working agreement in the newly elected Landtag started right after the election.

A widely-perceived racist slur by FPÖ state councilor Gottfried Waldhäusl at a TV debate with high school students made a formal working agreement or coalition between the ÖVP and FPÖ unlikely - increasing instead the likelihood of a formal ÖVP-SPÖ working agreement or coalition in the Landtag. The widely-perceived racist slur by FPÖ state councilor Gottfried Waldhäusl was followed by a propaganda attack on the school of the students who participated in the TV debate with Waldhäusl, with unknown perpetrators dropping xenophobic leaflets and posters on the school grounds. Waldhäusl's comments and the xenophobic attack on the school prompted all other parties to sharply condemn Waldhäusl and the FPÖ. Meanwhile, the FPÖ either defended Waldhäusl or remained silent. Erwin Angerer, FPÖ lead candidate for the upcoming 2023 Carinthian state election on 5 March, said that he wouldn't have phrased Waldhäusl's comments the way he did, distancing himself somewhat from his party colleague. The FPÖ's general secretary Michael Schnedlitz, as well as party leader Herbert Kickl defended Waldhäusl's comments, while the FPÖ-leaders of Upper Austria, Tyrol and Salzburg were critical, saying "well-integrated high school students with a migrant background are the wrong target for failed immigration policy". Salzburg, like Carinthia, will vote later this year in the 2023 Salzburg state election on 23 April.

On 14 February 2023, the ÖVP started in-depth coalition talks with the SPÖ.[9]

On 9 March 2023, coalition talks between ÖVP and SPÖ were abruptly ended by the ÖVP after "unbridgeable differences", as well as "demands from the SPÖ that couldn't be agreed on". The new SPÖ-leader Sven Hergovich said "he would rather chop off his hand, than give in to the ÖVP". The SPÖ's demands included the introduction of all-day kindergarten care in Lower Austria, a statewide "job guarantee" for long-term unemployed, more heating benefits for poor people, better financial assistance for family members who perform long-term care for their ill/old family members and more investments into rural areas. The ÖVP said these demands would hurt the competitiveness of Lower Austria. The ÖVP will start in-depth talks with the FPÖ now about a possible coalition.[10]

On 17 March, the new ÖVP-FPÖ coalition in the Lower Austrian state parliament (Landtag) was officially presented.[11]

On 23 March, the new ÖVP-FPÖ coalition, the new ÖVP-FPÖ-SPÖ government and Governor Johanna Mikl-Leitner were officially elected by the new Landtag. The FPÖ cast invalid votes in the election of Mikl-Leitner as Governor, despite entering a coalition with her ÖVP, honoring their campaign pledge not to re-elect her. SPÖ, Greens and NEOS voted against her. She received 24 of the 41 valid votes, out of 56 total members in the Landtag, the lowest number of votes for any Governor of Lower Austria. It was also the first time a Lower Austrian Governor was elected by a minority of the total members in the Landtag.

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Lower Austria votes on January 29th". ORF (in German). 3 November 2022.
  2. ^ "What you need to know about the Lower Austrian state election". Niederösterreichische Nachrichten (in German). 9 November 2022.
  3. ^ "People's Party NÖ sticks to the Proporz system". Niederösterreichische Nachrichten (in German). 23 May 2019.
  4. ^ "ROS - NÖ Landtag electoral law 1992 - State law for Lower Austria, version of 04.08.2020". Lower Austrian Government.
  5. ^ a b "Red-black match to expand childcare". Wiener Zeitung (in German). 18 November 2022.
  6. ^ "Lower Austria election: Landbauer FPÖ top candidate, Waldhäusl in 2nd place". Puls 24 (in German). 15 November 2022.
  7. ^ "Collini confirmed as Neos top candidate". ORF (in German). 11 June 2022.
  8. ^ "Government wants to remain firm on Schengen veto, SPÖ at odds". heute.at (in German). 12 December 2022.
  9. ^ "ÖVP und SPÖ starten vertiefende Gespräche". ORF (in German). 14 February 2023.
  10. ^ "ÖVP stoppt Verhandlungen mit SPÖ, Gespräche mit FPÖ beginnen". ORF (in German). 9 March 2023.
  11. ^ "ÖVP und FPÖ: Details zu Regierungspakt". ORF (in German). 17 March 2023.