Austrian Elections & Politics - Version 1.0

[Tender Branson]

A new OGM poll for the "Kurier" shows that Austrians overwhelmingly think that the dead Governor of Carinthia, Jörg Haider (far-right-winger from FPÖ & BZÖ), is most responsible for the Hypo-disaster:



74% think that Haider is to blame for the Hypo fail, with "the other parties in the Carinthian state parliament that backed the 20 Bio. € Hypo liabilities" next at 69%.

Even 57% of FPÖ-voters think Haider is to blame for it.

http://kurier.at/politik/inland/die-lange-liste-der-hypo-schuldigen/52.599.183

[Cranberry]

The 34% who blame Faymann/Spindelegger sure are the remaining FPÖ voters

[Tender Branson]

Long-time Gov. Josef Pühringer (ÖVP) has announced today that he'll run again in the Upper Austria state election next year.

Which means the ÖVP will win again. Period. Upper Austria is a well-managed state with an ÖVP-Green coalition in its 2nd term and together with Salzburg has the lowest unemployment rate in Austria.

[Tender Branson]

2 very interesting new polls out today:

STYRIA state election poll for the "Kronen Zeitung" (takes place next year)



Brutal losses for SPÖVP (which are the current government parties). Massive gains for the FPÖ, with a chance at first place. NEOS and Greens are relatively weak, compared with their national results. Also, the KPÖ seems to lose some ground.

http://www.krone.at/Oesterreich/Stmk_Minus_21_Prozentpunkte_fuer_die_Reformpartner-Sonntagsfrage-Story-395407

CARINTHIA state election poll for the "Kronen Zeitung" (1 year after the landslide election that ousted the "System Haider" (FPÖ/BZÖ)



The current state government is SPÖ-ÖVP-Greens. The poll shows losses for the ÖVP (according to the article benefits NEOS most). Losses also for Team Stronach and BZÖ, while the Greens are gaining ground. SPÖ and FPÖ are mostly stable ... (actually a very underwhelming result for the FPÖ there).

http://www.krone.at/Nachrichten/Umfrage_Kaerntner_OeVP_verliert_stark._SPOe_leicht-Ein_Jahr_nach_Wahl-Story-395274

[Zanas]

For once I will fill Tender's seat and tell you about Gallup 1 March's poll for EP election :
FPÖ 23
SPÖ 22
ÖVP 22
Greens 14
Neos 13
Martin 2
Rekos 1

[Tender Branson]

For once I will fill Tender's seat and tell you about Gallup 1 March's poll for EP election :
FPÖ 23
SPÖ 22
ÖVP 22
Greens 14
Neos 13
Martin 2
Rekos 1

That's an old poll though: It's the same Gallup/Ö24 poll as the one from Feb. 14/15.

https://uselectionatlas.org/FORUM/index.php?topic=170930.msg4055994#msg4055994

The newspaper (Ö24) just published it again this weekend. They sometimes do this and I hate it when they do so ...

If you find EP polls for Austria that I didn't find already, please post it in the "EP 2014 elections" thread ...

Thx.

[Tender Branson]

Yesterday, a referendum in Vienna's 6th and 7th districts ended, which was about the redesign of Mariahilfer Straße (a big and important shopping street in the capital).

The redesign of the street was initiated by the Red-Green city government (with the Greens being the most eager about it).

Basically, the redesign was about transforming the MaHü from a main road with tons of cars into a pedestrian area only, with biking lanes, children playgrounds etc. and a ban on cars. Only delivery cars would be allowed to enter the MaHü between 7am and 1pm.

ÖVP and FPÖ were opposed to this.

...

So, the city-gov launched the referendum in which every 16+ year old with main residence in the 6./7. district + EU citizens were allowed to vote.

The result was a big win for the Red-Green government (again, especially for the Greens), after polls have previously shown that the initiative is in danger.

The results were:

You must be logged in to read this quote.

If you want to read more about the redesign of the MaHü:

http://www.wien.gv.at/english/transportation-urbanplanning/mariahilfer-strasse-new.html

...

The MaHü a few years ago:



The planned Mahü of the future:

[EPG]

Wow, that would be a big change to Mariahilfer Straße.

"Among the residents who ticked answer A, 9,459 persons (55.9 percent) are in favour of through traffic, and 7,453 persons (44.1 percent) are against it."

What does that mean, if the measures include a ban on cars?

[Tender Branson]

Wow, that would be a big change to Mariahilfer Straße.

"Among the residents who ticked answer A, 9,459 persons (55.9 percent) are in favour of through traffic, and 7,453 persons (44.1 percent) are against it."

What does that mean, if the measures include a ban on cars?

Don't know if you are able to read German, but try this:

http://www.wienerzeitung.at/nachrichten/wien/unterwegs/531652_Mariahilfer-Strasse-Tempo-30-in-umliegenden-Durchzugsstrassen-fix.html

I'm not really familiar with the traffic at the MaHü, nor do I care as a Western Austrian, but it probably means that voters wanted large parts of the street to be a pedestrian/cycling zone only (by voting option A) with very limited car traffic (but allowing a couple intersections where cars can cross the street to go into another district for example, with a 19 mph speed limit).

The city government is currently working anyway to implement the best version and evaluate it after a few years.

But the main thing is: There will be a pedestrian/cycling zone, which the Greens pushed, and cars will be almost completely removed from the street.

[Tender Branson]

Municipal elections take place today in the State of Salzburg, where I live.

Polls have opened at 6:30 already and close at 5pm.

Mayors and city councils in 119 cities and towns will be elected.

All citizens aged 16+ are eligible to vote, as well as EU-citizens who have registered their main residence here.

The ÖVP has historically dominated these elections: In 2009, they won 94 mayors, the SPÖ just 21, with 4 Independent mayors.

In the city council elections, the ÖVP got 45%, the SPÖ 32%, FPÖ 11%, Greens 7%, Others 6%

This is unlikely to change today.

The most interesting result will be Salzburg City, where the Red-Green coalition could be voted out.

I'll post the results after 5pm.

[Tender Branson]

First reports point to 70-75% turnout (which is similar to 2009).

[Tender Branson]

First results are coming in. Clickable map here:

http://salzburg.orf.at/gemeindewahlen14

So far, only small towns had their polls closed.

Bigger cities are still open for another hour.

[Tender Branson]

Early results show slight gains for ÖVP, FPÖ and Greens.

The SPÖ is losing slightly.

But still not a lot in because most bigger cities are closing in 20 minutes.

[Tender Branson]

Salzburg City live vote count:

City council: http://www.stadt-salzburg.at/wahlen2014/grw2014.asp (90/165 precincts counted)

Mayor: http://www.stadt-salzburg.at/wahlen2014/bmw2014.asp (44/165 precincts counted)

SPÖ, ÖVP, Greens, FPÖ, BZÖ all losing.

NEOS @ 12%.

[Tender Branson]

Peter Padourek (ÖVP) is elected the new mayor of my city, Zell am See.

He got 65.7%, the SPÖ-candidate 29.1% and the Green candidate 5.2%

http://www.salzburg.gv.at/20003stat/wahlen/bmw/index.htm#erg.137

[Franknburger]

Seems the biggest chunk that is out still from Salzburg is vote-by-mail. 1 vote-by-mail precinct (6.500 votes) is counted, the other one is still out. Any idea how many votes it could contain, Tender?

[Tender Branson]

Seems the biggest chunk that is out still from Salzburg is vote-by-mail. 1 vote-by-mail precinct (6.500 votes) is counted, the other one is still out. Any idea how many votes it could contain, Tender?

8.081 absentees were issued in the City.

So, basically 1.600 ballots.

[Tender Branson]

The final results show that the ÖVP and SPÖ lost state-wide, while the FPÖ, Greens and others won.

The ÖVP won 91 mayoral posts (-3), the SPÖ 16 (-5) and 4 mayors are Independents.

In 8 cities there will be a run-off in 2 weeks.

In the city of Salzburg, the Red-Green government was re-elected despite losses (but they kept 21 of 40 seats).

The ÖVP lost big, while NEOS won more than 12%.

NEOS also ended 3 votes ahead of the FPÖ.

Maps and results here:

City councils: http://www.salzburg.gv.at/20003stat/wahlen/gvw/index.htm#karte.5.a

Mayors: http://www.salzburg.gv.at/20003stat/wahlen/bmw/index.htm#karte.5.a

[Tender Branson]

City council results map by town/city:



ÖVP wins 96, SPÖ wins 17, FPÖ 2, Indies 4

http://salzburg.orf.at/gemeindewahlen14

[Franknburger]

I have gained the impression that a lot of the Green gain comes from them having increased their regional coverage (i.e. filed candidates in smaller towns where they hadn't been on the ballot the last time). Any idea on how their vote has developed if one only takes those communities where they already were on the ballot in 2009? I guess, in that case gains in the Salzburg periphery would still have been offset by their loss in Salzburg proper. Same observation/ question for the FPÖ.

I for my part would be interested in precinct mapping for Salzburg/ Hallein (Greens appear to be especially strong in the Neustadt, which of course is where one would expect them to be strong)...

[Cranberry]

I like it that NEOS were stronger than the FPÖ. It's always good to see the FPÖ on the 5th place, hehe.

However, I have a question for you, Tender: Other than Salzburg City, besides of few expections, the most red municipalities are in the inner-mountainous areas of the Pinzgau and Pongau. In Tyrol, the most alpine areas are the most black, while the most flat areas are more red. Why is it the other way round in Salzburg?

[Tender Branson]

I have gained the impression that a lot of the Green gain comes from them having increased their regional coverage (i.e. filed candidates in smaller towns where they hadn't been on the ballot the last time). Any idea on how their vote has developed if one only takes those communities where they already were on the ballot in 2009? I guess, in that case gains in the Salzburg periphery would still have been offset by their loss in Salzburg proper. Same observation/ question for the FPÖ.

I for my part would be interested in precinct mapping for Salzburg/ Hallein (Greens appear to be especially strong in the Neustadt, which of course is where one would expect them to be strong)...

You are right: The Greens increased their coverage in the last 5 years, by participating in more towns. If we want to see how the Green %age changed, we need to focus on those towns were they competed 5 years ago too.

Sry, I don't have a precinct map for Salzburg-city, because the electoral districts are not the same as the city districts.

[Tender Branson]

However, I have a question for you, Tender: Other than Salzburg City, besides of few expections, the most red municipalities are in the inner-mountainous areas of the Pinzgau and Pongau. In Tyrol, the most alpine areas are the most black, while the most flat areas are more red. Why is it the other way round in Salzburg?

Some SPÖ-voting municipalities are easier to explain than others:

* Schwarzach (has the main, huge hospital in the Pongau with a big chirurgy for example for ski accidents and a nursing school, which means the doctors and nurses push the SPÖ-vote up).

* Lend (big aluminium factory, the SAG, factory workers are SPÖ-voting).

Some other SPÖ-voting municipalities can be explained with many workers in the railway business and manufacturing, such as Bischofshofen and Saalfelden: In B-Hofen, the BIG company Liebherr is situated, which makes all kinds of cranes and other construction equipment. Saalfelden has many manufacturing companies as well.

And in some other SPÖ-voting municipalities, where you don't have an evident industry which is SPÖ-leaning, I think it's the popularity of the SPÖ mayoral candidate or incumbent that keeps the city "RED".

Also, the city of Zell am See voted for the ÖVP in recent years, due to the popularity of mayor Hermann Kaufmann - who died last year. Peter Padourek certainly also won big yesterday because of Kaufmann's record.

Some surrounding towns though are SPÖ-voting though, such as Kaprun, Uttendorf and Bruck. Probably because the rents in the city of Zell am See are already very high, so people live elsewhere, where it's cheaper and commute into the city for work. So, their hometowns vote SPÖ.

[Tender Branson]

New Market poll for the "Standard":

27% FPÖ (+6.5)
22% SPÖ (-5.0)
19% ÖVP (-5.0)
13% NEOS (+8.0)
13% Greens (+0.5)
  2% TS (-4.0)
  1% BZÖ (-3.0)
  3% Others

http://derstandard.at/1392687897289/Neos-sind-gleichauf-mit-den-Gruenen

[Cranberry]

Oh my god, no.
I'm now seriously considering leaving Austria after the next elections, and never come back again -.-