🇦🇹 Austrian Elections & Politics 6.0 - Upper Austria election: 26 Sept. 2021

[Tender Branson]

New Vienna poll by OGM for the "Krone" newspaper (July 13-16, n=801):

38% SPÖ (-1.6%)
23% ÖVP (+13.8%)
17% Greens (+5.2%)
10% FPÖ (-20.8%)
  7% NEOS (+0.8%)
  4% THC (+4.0%)
  1% Others (-1.4%)

https://www.ogm.at/sonntagsfrage/ogm-sonntagsfrage-wiener-gemeinderatswahlen-juli-2020

What would it take for the Greens to switch sides in Vienna and form a coalition with OVP and NEOS instead? The Governorship?

The SPÖ-Vienna frequently uses the possibility (or threat) of a ÖVP-Green-NEOS majority as a tool to mobilize their voters during the coming campaign.

But the Greens have already kinda announced that they would not enter such a coalition if the SPÖ wins big.

I think they and their voters are much more comfortable to continue governing together with the SPÖ, rather than enter an untested Dirndl or Watermelon coalition ...

It’s also what voters prefer as coalition option by a huge margin.

[Tender Branson]

Could Strache be prohibited from taking part in the Vienna election on Oct. 11 ?

The small, leftist party "Wandel" (Change) has filed charges against Strache in Vienna and Lower Austria for violating the residency law.

Strache is registered as living in a secondary residence with his wife and child in Klosterneuburg, a suburb just outside Vienna - which is located in the state of Lower Austria.

Strache's main residence is registered in Vienna.

The Vienna election law says that you have to be 18 and need to have your main residence in Vienna on election day, to run as a candidate in the state election.

The "Change" party calls Strache an "illegal immigrant to Vienna, trying to sneak into parliamentary immunity" by "having been unemployed for the past year and spending most of his time at his Klosterneuburg home."

Therefore, his Klosterneuburg residence is in fact his main residence and Vienna only his 2nd residence.

It will be interesting to see how the Vienna and Lower Austria authorities react to the complaints filed today by "Change".

For example, Vienna could retain his main residence in Vienna.

Or they could demand proof that Strache spends at least 12 hours per day in Vienna (which is currently indeed problematic for him to prove).

On the other hand, he's currently campaigning a lot in the city and his party headquarters are located there, so he could have a point.

Still pretty funny if Vienna revokes his main residence before the election ...

https://www.krone.at/2197576

[Tender Branson]

Could Strache be prohibited from taking part in the Vienna election on Oct. 11 ?

Meanwhile, FPÖ vs. Strache is also fun to watch:

https://www.oe24.at/oesterreich/politik/blau-gegen-blau-das-ist-brutalitaet-fpoe-an-strache-stell-dich-mit-der-justizwache-gut/438843551

After the FPÖ launched a campaign to defend the work of police (officers), Strache did the same.

(After the George Floyd protests, our police also came under some attack for previous abuses against (black) people).

The FPÖ then advised Strache to make friends with prison guards, because he might soon see them quite often ...

[Tender Branson]

Could Strache be prohibited from taking part in the Vienna election on Oct. 11 ?

The "Kurier" reports that 50-year old Strache is still registered with his main residence at the apartment of his mother in Vienna's 3rd district.

So far, so LOL.

But last year, as part of the Ibiza criminal investigation, police officers came to his mother's apartment to raid it.

His mother told the authorities that "her son doesn't live here since 19 years and there are no things belonging to him in her apartment and he just occasionally comes to visit her."

That would suggest that Strache only uses his Vienna address as a fake main residence, while living for most of the time in Lower Austria, which should in fact be his main residence.

Strache now has a week to send proof to the Vienna election authorities that his main residence on July 14th (election calendar started to run) was indeed in Vienna.

A ruling will come in August.

The Vienna-SPÖ would actually have an interest in keeping Strache on the ballot, because it would split the FPÖ in half and if he manages to cross the 5% threshold, it would make a ÖVP-Green-NEOS coalition against the SPÖ more unlikely.

On the other hand it would be a terrible sign if you can run in an election with a fake residence and also a bad image for Austria if Strache were able to get into the Vienna parliament after screwing up on Ibiza ...

https://kurier.at/chronik/wien/strache-muss-jetzt-beweisen-dass-er-ein-echter-wiener-ist/400981430

[Tender Branson]

Vienna:

The preliminary number of people eligible to vote has been released yesterday.

State election: 1.133.011
District elections: 1.362.795 (this number is higher, because EU-citizens can vote as well)

The number of eligible voters has decreased by 10.000 for the state election compared to 2015, but increased by 40.000 for the district elections.

That's because the number of Austrian citizens declines every year, while EU-immigration to Vienna remains high.

https://www.wien.gv.at/presse/2020/07/24/wien-wahl-2020-vorlaeufige-anzahl-der-wahlberechtigten

[Tender Branson]

Could Strache be prohibited from taking part in the Vienna election on Oct. 11 ?

A speaker for the Strache Party says they are not afraid of the charges:

Team HC Strache: "Media hype without substance"

Höbart rejected on Saturday that Strache did not have his center of life in Vienna: "The daily allegations without content and attempts to attack HC Strache are such a transparent spectacle that drives many voters into our arms."

The attempt "to prevent HC Strache's candidacy on October 11 with a staged residence scandal" will "go nowhere." It was "once again a media hype without any substance".

With Strache's planned presentation next week, "this media-staged matter" will be resolved in a few days - "especially since, for example, the declaration of support submitted by HC Strache as Viennese has already been officially confirmed by the municipal district office," said Höbart.

Strache's mother has been in a nursing home since March

Regarding the apartment concerned, the ex-FPÖ politician explained that Strache has now taken it fully over: "Unfortunately, HC Strache's beloved mother had to go to a nursing home in March 2020 and he has at that time - before the end of the main registration period on July 14, 2020 - said apartment fully taken over and uses it.

Before that, there were other apartments in Vienna that served him as residences, primarily for security reasons.

“His center of life, whether as party chairman or as vice chancellor, has been Vienna for the past 15 years and still is. No matter whether it is political, social or private, ”says Höbart.

https://wien.orf.at/stories/3059487

[Tender Branson]

Could Strache be prohibited from taking part in the Vienna election on Oct. 11 ?

Vienna's MA62 (election and civil registration office) has received another complaint about Strache's "main" residence in Vienna.

Now including the recent media revelations (I posted the remarks of Strache's mother above).



Meanwhile, Strache has deleted all pictures on Social Media from his Lower Austria villa where he lives basically all the time with his wife and child.

At the same time, he posted new pictures showing him next to his "neighbours" in his fake Vienna alibi apartment.

What an idiot.

The FPÖ has announced they will challenge the Vienna state election at the Constitutional Court, if the MA62 allows Strache to run with his fake main residence in Vienna.

It should be noted that ahead of each election, the MA62 routinely checks all party candidates who are listed as running for the election if they have their main residence in Vienna.

Based on this fact alone, Strache would be allowed to run in the election - but his case is much more complicated, because all the indications are that he lives in Lower Austria most of the time and complaints have been filed with the MA62 ...

https://wien.orf.at/stories/3059803

[PSOL]

Note that even THC (Strache’s party) has to collect the 2.950 signatures in the next month to be on the Oct. 11 Vienna ballot.

THC actually has 3 of 100 seats in the Vienna parliament, so usually they would not, but Vienna has a statute that says that only parties winning representation in the previous election can run again without collecting signatures.

Strache’s group only split from the FPÖ a few months ago, so they need to collect.

Should be no problem for them though.

There are some 20 small groups/parties who want to run, among them LEFT (which includes the KPÖ), the Pan-European VOLT, the Satire Party THE PARTY or the Beer Party.

What other parties are apart of this LEFT group?

[Tender Branson]

Note that even THC (Strache’s party) has to collect the 2.950 signatures in the next month to be on the Oct. 11 Vienna ballot.

THC actually has 3 of 100 seats in the Vienna parliament, so usually they would not, but Vienna has a statute that says that only parties winning representation in the previous election can run again without collecting signatures.

Strache’s group only split from the FPÖ a few months ago, so they need to collect.

Should be no problem for them though.

There are some 20 small groups/parties who want to run, among them LEFT (which includes the KPÖ), the Pan-European VOLT, the Satire Party THE PARTY or the Beer Party.

What other parties are a part of this LEFT group?

Basically just the KPÖ as a party is part of LEFT.

It also includes independent people such as journalists, migrants, NGO people, refugee workers etc.

Their frontrunner is Anna Svec:



https://links-wien.at/kandidatinnen/

[Tender Branson]

OGM poll:

83% of Vienna voters are against re-naming the several "Blackamoor Alleys" in Vienna (or in German, Mohrengasse).

Only a handful think they should be re-named, because they might be somehow racist.

https://www.krone.at/2198868

[Tender Branson]

The MA62 election commission of Vienna (which is also responsible for civil registration matters) will make a decision about Strache in 2 weeks, August 19.

That doesn’t just apply for Strache, but all voters:

People who think they are eligible to vote now have about 2 weeks to check if they are listed as voters or not. If not, they can demand being included in the voter list. There are only a handful of such cases each election, because of the automatic voter registration here.

On the other side, citizens can also demand people to be excluded from the voter list if there’s credible evidence that this person doesn’t have their main residence in Vienna (which is the case with Strache).

After the ruling on Aug. 19th, Strache has 2 days to respond or to file a complaint, after which the Vienna Administrative Court will make a quick final ruling so that the voter list and ballots can be finalized.

https://www.derstandard.at/story/2000119155590/wandel-will-streichung-straches-aus-waehlerverzeichnis

[Tender Branson]

Could Strache be prohibited from taking part in the Vienna election on Oct. 11 ?

Strache announced today that his party, THC, has collected more than the 2.950 necessary signatures from eligible voters to run in the Vienna election.

They collected about 110% of the necessary amount to be sure (contrary to the US, in Austria only a very small amount of signatures are thrown out because they are invalid, mostly because people are already registered to vote automatically and have to sign the petition of a party in the municipal offices, checked and stamped by a city clerk).

So, theoretically Strache and his THC could run in the election.

Pending the decision from the MA62 about his main residence in the city of course ...

In 2 weeks, we’ll know more.

https://www.vienna.at/wien-wahl-strache-hat-die-noetigen-unterschriften-zusammen/6699116

[Tender Branson]

New Vienna poll (Ö24/Research Affairs):

78% of Vienna voters say Strache does NOT have his main residence in Vienna any longer and 75% say he should be banned from running in the election.

4% would currently vote for Strache, which is below the 5% threshold to enter city parliament.



New Austria poll (Ö24/Research Affairs):

[Tender Branson]

Good to see the Ludwig-SPÖ in Vienna caring about the working-class folk again which will win back FPÖ-voters.

New SPÖ election posters:

"Creating jobs."



"Every job/workplace is important. That's why we are fighting for every single one."

[Tender Branson]

With ca. 1 week remaining for small parties to collect 2.950 signatures, it looks as if 3 parties (in addition to the 5 parliamentary parties) will run Vienna-wide:

* SPÖ (center-left)
* FPÖ (far-right)
* ÖVP (center-right)
* Greens (left)
* NEOS (centrist)

* THC (far-right, has enough signatures already)
* LINKS (left, only a few signatures missing)
* SÖZ (left, only a few signatures missing)

https://www.derstandard.at/story/2000119224849/strache-hat-genuegend-unterschriften-fuer-antreten

There might be a few other small parties that are making the cut in a few districts only, so no citywide candidacy for them.

SÖZ ("Social Austria of the Future") is a left-wing, migrant party and former List Pilz MP Martha Bissmann is their frontrunner.

[🦀🎂🦀🎂]

Good to see the Ludwig-SPÖ in Vienna caring about the working-class folk again which will win back FPÖ-voters.

New SPÖ election posters:

"Creating jobs."

Smh chasing the gay vote

[Tender Branson]

LINKS (Left) announced today they have collected all necessary signatures to be on the Oct. 11 ballot in Vienna.

2.950 signatures were needed, they got more than 5.500. But there are individual thresholds to be met in each of the 23 districts and electoral districts, that’s why it took until today for the last district to be completed.

https://twitter.com/kurierat/status/1293257767839567872

[Tender Branson]

Christina Kohl, candidate for H.C. Strache’s new party in Vienna, has been fired by her employer - the airline AUA - after anti-Semitic comments at a Vienna demo:



https://www.derstandard.at/story/2000119345305/team-strache-kandidatin-wegen-antisemitischem-demo-sager-gekuendigt

Kohl shouted „Soros has to go, Rothschild has to go, Antifa has to go.“ at an Anti-Coronavirus measures demo.

[Tender Branson]

Today is the deadline for small parties to submit the 2.950 signatures necessary for the Oct. 11 Vienna state election.

The city will probably announce which parties have submitted enough signatures for which districts after 5pm.

Vienna has 23 districts, which are distributed to 18 electoral districts for the state election (100 signatures are needed for a candidacy in one of them).

So 1.800 in total for the state election.

For the district elections on the same day, 50 signatures are needed in the 23 districts - so 1.150 in total.

If a party wants to run in all 18 electoral districts for the state election and in all 23 districts for the district elections, 2.950 signatures in total are needed.

It looks like THC, Links and SÖZ are meeting this requirement and maybe a few others like the satire Beer Party or the pan-European VOLT in a few electoral districts only.

[bigic]

Christina Kohl, candidate for H.C. Strache’s new party in Vienna, has been fired by her employer - the airline AUA - after anti-Semitic comments at a Vienna demo:



https://www.derstandard.at/story/2000119345305/team-strache-kandidatin-wegen-antisemitischem-demo-sager-gekuendigt

Kohl shouted „Soros has to go, Rothschild has to go, Antifa has to go.“ at an Anti-Coronavirus measures demo.

Seems like cancel culture has also infected Austria, which is shameful! ^/s

[CumbrianLefty]

Soros *and* Rothschild? Truly we were being spoiled here

[Tender Branson]

Soros *and* Rothschild? Truly we were being spoiled here

She also shouted „Rockefeller has to leave“ at the demo.

https://twitter.com/deltamikeplus/status/1293165611196076035

[Tender Branson]

Today is the deadline for small parties to submit the 2.950 signatures necessary for the Oct. 11 Vienna state election.

The city will probably announce which parties have submitted enough signatures for which districts after 5pm.

According to their own press statement, the „Beer Party“ has collected enough signatures to be on the ballot city-wide.



That’s a significant achievement for a satire/joke party that originated from a band called Turbobier.

They also ran Austria-wide in the federal election last year and received 0.1% or 1 per mille (alcohol content).

In Vienna, they got 6 Promille (0.6%), claiming to be the „tightest“ party ...

[Tender Branson]

Today is the deadline for small parties to submit the 2.950 signatures necessary for the Oct. 11 Vienna state election.

The city will probably announce which parties have submitted enough signatures for which districts after 5pm.

Here is the list of those who made it:

CITY-WIDE

SPÖ - Bürgermeister Dr. Michael Ludwig
FPÖ - Freiheitliche Partei Österreichs
GRÜNE - Die Grünen / Grüne Alternative Wien
ÖVP - Die neue Volkspartei Wien
NEOS - Erneuerung für Wien
HC - Team HC Strache / Allianz für Österreich
LINKS / KPÖ
BIER - Die Bierpartei
SÖZ - Soziales Österreich der Zukunft

Only in a few districts

VOLT - Volt Österreich (electoral districts of Center + Inner West)
WIFF - Wir für Floridsdorf (electoral district of Floridsdorf)
PRO - Pro23: Liste Ernst Paleta – für ein lebenswertes Liesing! (electoral district of Liesing)

https://www.wien.gv.at/presse/2020/08/14/wien-wahl-2020-wahlvorschlaege-wurden-eingebracht

[Tender Branson]

Here's what will happen next:

* on August 19, Vienna's MA62 will decide about the Strache residency case.
* Strache then has 2 days to file a formal complaint, if they ban him from running.
* Then the Vienna Administrative Court has 5 days to decide on such a complaint.
* on August 28, the Vienna election commission will meet and annouce all qualified parties/candidates
* in the first week of September, the ballots will be printed
* the ballots will then go out to postal voters in the second week of September, meaning that voters can start voting ca. 1 month ahead of the election

It is expected that ca. 30-50% of all voters will be postal votes this time.