The 2024 European Parliament election in Austria was held on 9 June 2024 as part of the 2024 European Parliament election.[1] This was the seventh European Parliament election held in Austria, and the first to take place after Brexit.
The Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ), by winning the European Parliament election with 25.4%, won its first ever nationwide election in Austria. It was the first time that the ÖVP did not emerge as the largest party in a European Parliament election.
Background
The ÖVP was the winner of the previous election in 2019, while the SPÖ came in second and the FPÖ third. Trailing further behind were the Greens and NEOS. Other parties failed to win a seat in the new Parliament.
In the period leading up to the election, Austria was governed by a coalition government formed by the ÖVP and the Greens following the 2019 legislative election. Karl Nehammer of the ÖVP had been serving as chancellor since 2021.
Electoral system
Compared to the previous election, Austria was entitled to two more MEPs in this election: one assigned in 2020 due to the seat redistribution after Brexit, and one assigned in 2023 after a pre-election assessment of the Parliament composition based on the most recent population figures. The additional seat assigned in 2020 went to the Green Party.[2] The 20 members are elected through semi-open listproportional representation in a single nationwide constituency with seats allocated through the D'Hondt method. The electoral threshold is set at 4%.[3]
All people who have Austrian citizenship and a main residence in Austria, Austrian citizens without residence in Austria (Austrians abroad) and other Union citizens (if their main residence is in Austria) are entitled to vote in the European elections in Austria. In addition, those eligible to vote must turn 16 years old by election day at the latest and be registered in the voter register/European voter register of an Austrian municipality on the deadline date. The right to stand as a candidate in the European elections is available to all those people who are entitled to vote and have reached the age of 18 on election day.[1]
According to final numbers, 6,372,204 people were eligible to vote in the election, including 45,764 Austrian citizens with their main residence abroad and 45,161 EU citizens with their main residence in Austria.
Compared to the 2019 election, the total number of eligible voters decreased by 43,973, the number of Austrian citizens with their main residence abroad increased by 1,041 and the number of EU citizens with their main residence in Austria increased by 6,489.
The final number of eligible voters was published on 7 June 2024.[4]
A total of 958,948 absentee ballots were issued in the run-up to the election, 913,856 of which were issued to eligible voters living in Austria and 45,092 to eligible voters living abroad. Compared to the 2019 election (686,249), a total of 39.74% more absentee ballots were issued. A total of 15.05% of eligible voters applied for an absentee ballot, a record for European elections in Austria (in 2019, this figure was 10.70%).[5]
Parties that ran for election
Any party which intends to be on the ballot for the election either needs to submit the signature of 1 member of the European Parliament, or 3 members of the Austrian National Council, or 2.600 valid petition signatures of eligible Austrian voters by April 26, 2024 at 5pm at the Austrian Interior Ministry.
The following parties that ran in the European elections are represented in the National Council and the European Parliament:
The following other parties announced their candidacy, were not represented in the National Council or in the European Parliament, but submitted the necessary amount of petition signatures to be placed on the ballot:[11]
According to the OGM poll for the "Kurier" newspaper (May 7-8, 2024), a total of 66% of those surveyed said they are "certain" to vote. This would represent an increase of more than 6% compared to the 2019 election, which had 59.8% turnout. It would also be the highest turnout since the first EU parliament election in Austria in 1996, when turnout was 67.7%.
Other pollsters like the Lazarsfeld Society or Spectra are estimating turnout at between 52% to 63%.
Results of the election, showing vote strength by municipality.
Official results will be released at 11pm on 9 June 2024, after all polling stations in the EU have closed. Polling stations in Austria already close no later than 5pm, but Italy's polling stations remain open until 11pm, which is why counting in Austria starts at 5pm, but results are withheld until Italy closes.
Official final results, including all absentee ballots:
↑The trend forecast is the result of a joint survey by Foresight/ARGE Wahlen/Hajek on behalf of ORF/APA/ATV/Puls24 among around 3,600 people eligible to vote in the EU elections. The survey was carried out from June 3 to 8. Unlike the projections, the trend forecast is not yet based on results data from the electoral districts and is therefore less accurate. The survey has a margin of error of +/- 2.5%
↑The Lazarsfeld Society surveyed 1.700 voters on election day, 9 June 2024. The survey has a margin of error of +/- 2.43%
↑The OGM trend forecast is based on 2,486 interviews conducted from June 4 to 7 and on June 9. The EU sample also includes EU citizens and thus, for the first time, also data on their voting behavior.
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