Vienna Prepares for Upcoming Elections in Three Weeks

In three weeks, residents of Vienna will head to the polls to elect a new city council and district representatives. The election campaign, which has been moved from autumn to April 27, is now entering its final stages. The city is adorned with vibrant campaign posters, making the upcoming vote highly visible. Additionally, voters can already begin casting their ballots as election cards are currently being distributed.

Approximately 1.4 million eligible voters are expected to participate in this election. The previous election in 2020 saw significant gains for several parties. The Social Democratic Party of Austria (SPÖ) secured 41.6% of the vote, a slight increase of 2 percentage points from the previous election. Their coalition partner, the Greens, also experienced growth, rising to 14.8%, an increase of around 3 percentage points. The Austrian People's Party (ÖVP) gained 11 percentage points, achieving 20.4% of the vote. The NEOS party saw a modest rise to 7.5%, up by 1.3 percentage points.

In contrast, the Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ) faced a significant decline, losing 23.7 percentage points after the Ibiza scandal, resulting in a mere 7% of the vote. Analysts predict a potential rebound for the FPÖ, while the ÖVP may experience losses. Current polls suggest that a continuation of the red-pink coalition could be feasible, although the SPÖ emphasizes that they are still striving to reach their previous results.

Seven parties will appear on the ballot across all electoral districts. In addition to the established parties, two new lists have been approved for the ballot after gathering sufficient support declarations: the KPÖ/Links and the party led by former FPÖ chief Heinz-Christian Strache. Both parties failed to surpass the 5% threshold in 2020, and recent surveys indicate that they may face similar challenges this year.

Voters can already submit their requests for election cards, which are crucial for participating in absentee voting. Applications for election cards must be submitted by April 23 online or in writing, and in-person requests can be made until April 25 at the relevant election office. Voters using absentee ballots must ensure that their completed ballots arrive by 5:00 PM on election day; late submissions will not be counted.

This year introduces a new counting procedure, allowing absentee ballots received by Friday at 5:00 PM to be included in the preliminary results, thus providing a clearer picture of the election outcome on the night of the election. All polling stations will be open until 5:00 PM, and no votes will be counted before the polls close. Preliminary results for the city council and district elections will be announced on Sunday evening. Absentee ballots received between Friday afternoon and Sunday will be counted the following Monday, including those from non-Austrian EU citizens.

The official final results will be confirmed after the meeting of the city election authority on May 8.