Austrian presidential election, 2016

Austrian presidential election, 2016
Austria
24 April and 22 May 2016
 
Candidate Norbert Hofer Alexander Van der Bellen
Party FPÖ Independent (Greens)
Incumbent President

Heinz Fischer
Independent
Austria
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Presidential elections were held in Austria on 24 April 2016, with a second round run-off scheduled for 22 May 2016.[1] Incumbent president Heinz Fischer has served two terms and is not eligible to be elected for a third successive term. The first round of the election was won by Norbert Hofer of the Freedom Party of Austria. Alexander Van der Bellen, a member of the Austrian Greens contesting as an independent, placed second. The candidates of the two governing parties, the Austrian People's and Social Democratic parties, placed fourth and fifth respectively, behind independent Irmgard Griss in third place. Since no candidate received a majority of the vote, Hofer and Van der Bellen will go head-to-head in the second round in May. This will be the first time since the Second World War that an Austrian president has not been backed by either the People's or the Social Democratic party.[2]

Electoral system

The President of Austria is directly elected by universal adult suffrage once in every six years. The election is held under a two-round system; if no candidate receives more than 50% of votes cast in the first round, then a second ballot occurs which only those two candidates who received the greatest number of votes in the first round may stand.

The constitution grants the president the power to appoint the head of the federal cabinet and, by extension, federal cabinet ministers, Supreme Court justices, military officers, and most major bureaucrats. The president may dissolve the National Council. In practice, however, the president acts, for the most part, as a ceremonial figurehead.

Candidates

Social Democratic Party (SPÖ)

The most likely candidate of the Social Democratic Party was considered to be Labour Minister Rudolf Hundstorfer, though President of the National Council Doris Bures, former Chancellor Franz Vranitzky and former undersecretary for EU affairs Brigitte Ederer were also mentioned.[3][4] On 15 January 2016, Hundstorfer was officially announced as the SPÖ's candidate.[5]

Austrian People's Party (ÖVP)

Justice Minister Wolfgang Brandstetter declined to stand on 26 December 2015.[6] On 7 January 2016, ÖVP leader Reinhold Mitterlehner announced that Erwin Pröll, the Landeshauptmann of Lower Austria, would not be running.[7] Josef Pühringer, Landeshauptmann of Upper Austria declined to stand on 8 January 2016,[8] as did former European Commissioner Franz Fischler and Member of the European Parliament Othmar Karas. President of the Austrian Federal Economic Chamber Christoph Leitl only said he would not comment before the announcement by the party leadership on 10 January 2016.[9] Controversial former chancellor Wolfgang Schüssel was briefly considered as a candidate, but he also declined.[10] Other names mentioned were former Science Minister and university professor Karlheinz Töchterle, former Foreign Minister Ursula Plassnik and former Raiffeisen Zentralbank manager Christian Konrad. [11][12][13] On 10 January 2016, former first president of the National Council Andreas Khol was announced as the ÖVP's candidate.[14]

Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ)

Norbert Hofer, who serves as the Third President of the National Council, had been considered the most likely FPÖ candidate. On 28 December 2015 he said that he considered himself too young for the office and that he would prefer his party to pick someone else as its candidate.[15] Possible candidates include president of the Austrian Court of Audit Josef Moser, former district mayor of Vienna's 1st District Ursula Stenzel,[16] ombudsman Peter Fichtenbauer[17] and possibly party leader Heinz-Christian Strache himself.[18] As of 11 January 2016, Fichtenbauer, Moser and Stenzel continued to be the most likely candidates.[19] Strache announced on 13 January 2016 that he would not be running himself, and that it was still open whether the FPÖ would nominate anyone at all.[20] In mid-January, Vienna vice-mayor Johann Gudenus and former FPÖ leader and former vice-chancellor Norbert Steger were also mentioned as possible candidates.[21] On 19 January 2016, author and Middle East/migration pundit Karin Kneissl was mentioned as being recruited by the FPÖ to run,[22] which she quickly declined.[23][24]

On 20 January 2016, media reported that Gudenus had been internally selected as the FPÖ's candidate;[25] on 26 January 2016, reports claimed Stenzel would be announced on 28 January 2016 as the FPÖ's candidate.[26] Amid strong FPÖ-internal dissent, there were rumours the party leadership had been forced to reconsider, and that Hofer was now the most likely option, after all,[27] with Gudenus also still in play.[28] Commentators opined that the backtracking was a notable defeat for Strache.[29][30] Hofer was announced as the FPÖ's candidate on 28 January 2016.[31]

The Greens – The Green Alternative

In early January 2016, it was announced that former Greens party leader Alexander Van der Bellen would not be running as the official Greens' candidate, as that would have required a party convention decision; this was also framed as an attempt to put personality above party politics in the election.[32] Van der Bellen announced his candidacy on 8 January 2016 in a YouTube video.[33] NEOS leader Strolz stated that they would consider giving him the same support as Griss, depending on the same kind of hearing she went through.[34]

Other candidates

Independent candidate Irmgard Griss, a former Supreme Court of Justice judge and its president, declared her candidacy on 17 December 2015. She presented her candidacy to the Freedom Party of Austria and NEOS, but both declined to endorse her.[35] NEOS said they would support Griss and any other independent candidates indirectly, and voiced their concerns over the strong partisan politicization of the presidential office and the election campaign.[36] NEOS leader Matthias Strolz stated on 9 February 2016 that NEOS might also support Van der Bellen, voicing his preference for a run-off election between Griss and Van der Bellen.[37]

Richard Lugner, society figure, businessman and candidate for president in 1998, was reported to be considering running again,[38] and stated on 8 February 2016 that he would very likely be running.[39] He announced his candidacy on 10 February 2016, citing a poll done him by the Humaninstitut which showed him getting 10% (behind Van der Bellen at 27%, Hundstorfer at 18%, Hofer at 17%, Griss at 15% and Khol at 13%).[40] Martin Wabl, who had attempted to run in 1998, 2004 and 2010, but failed to gather the necessary number of signatures of support, stated he would try to run again.[41] Ulrich Habsburg-Lothringen, whose initiative to get the so-called “Habsburger-Paragraf”, which had precluded members of the former ruling house from running for president, proved successful in 2011, stated he would like to run for president, but only if a political party decided to support him.[42] Adrien Jean-Pierre Luxemburg-Wellenstein announced on 8 December 2015 he would run for president.[43] Author El Awadalla announced her run on 12 January 2016.[44] Krems activist Franz Stieger announced his candidacy on 13 January 2016.[45] Further independent candidates who announced their runs were Gustav Jobstmann,[46] Thomas Unden,[47] Gernot Pointner,[48] Alois Merz,[49] Georg Zakrajsek of the Interessengemeinschaft Liberales Waffenrecht Österreich,[50] Karin Kolland,[51][52] Robert Marschall of the EU Exit Party,[53] Thomas Reitmayer of the Austrian version of the satirical political party Die PARTEI,[54] Erich Körner-Lakatos and Peter Fetz.

At the half-way point for collecting signatures, it appeared that only the five major candidates and possibly Lugner and Awadalla had a chance of making the ballot.[55]

Signatures

Griss was the first candidate to submit the necessary amount of signatures (6,000) at the Interior Ministry, submitting 7,851 on 8 March 2016.[56] By 11 March 2016, she had collected over 10,000 signatures.[57] By 16 March 2016, two days before the deadline, the five main candidates had submitted their signatures, with Awadalla still having outside chances to make it and Lugner likely to fall short.[58]

Surprising many observers, Marschall announced on 17 March 2016 that he had gathered the required number of signatures,[59] though it was unclear whether he would be using the grace period of three days to reach the required amount; Lugner also submitted his bid, but falling short of the required signatures, promising to submit the remaining amount within the grace period. Besides these two, only the five main candidates submitted successful bids.[60] On 19 March 2016, it was announced that the five main candidates had submitted the necessary amount of signatures, and that neither Lugner nor Marschall had (so far).[61] As expected by many analysts, Lugner claimed on 22 March 2016 to have made up the deficit, with Marschall clearly failing,[62] having gathered only 1,150 signatures.[63]

Voter statistics

Official ballot paper for the first round of voting

According to the federal election commission, 6,382,507 Austrian citizens aged 16 or over are eligible to vote in the presidential election. Compared with the 2010 presidential election, the number of eligible voters increased by 26,707 - or 0.4% . There are 3,301,628 women and 3,080,879 men eligible to vote. 42,830 Austrians living abroad are also included in these numbers as being eligible to vote.[64] 641,975 absentee ballots were issued, up from 373.902 in 2010.[65]

Eligible voters by state:

Results

Hofer, the Freedom Party candidate, won the first round of the election on April 24 with an unexpectedly strong 35 percent of the vote.[66] Van der Bellen came second with 21 percent, and since Hofer failed to gain a majority the election proceeded to a run-off vote between the two, scheduled for May 22. Independent Irmgard Griss came third with 19 percent, while Khol and Hundstorfer, representing the two governing parties, polled 11 percent each. The result was described as a "political earthquake"[67] and a "historic upset".[66]

Summary

Chart of first-round vote

  Hofer (35.1%)
  Van der Bellen (21.3%)
  Griss (18.9%)
  Hundstorfer (11.3%)
  Khol (11.1%)
  Lugner (2.3%)
 Summary of the 2016 Austrian presidential election results
Candidates (nominating parties) 1st round (official results) 2nd round
Votes % Votes %
Norbert Hofer (Freedom Party of Austria) 1,499,971 35.1
Alexander Van der Bellen (The Greens – nominally independent) 913,218 21.3
Irmgard Griss (independent) 810,641 18.9
Rudolf Hundstorfer (Social Democratic Party of Austria) 482,790 11.3
Andreas Khol (Austrian People's Party) 475,767 11.1
Richard Lugner (independent) 96,783 2.3
Valid votes 4,279,170 100.0 100.0
Invalid votes 92,655 2.1
Total votes 4,371,825 68.5
Eligible voters 6,382,507
Source: Bundesministerium für Inneres

First round results by state, district and municipality

Results of the first round of the election by state (left), district (centre) and municipality (right):

  Norbert Hofer
  Alexander Van der Bellen
  Irmgard Griss
  Rudolf Hundstorfer
  Andreas Khol

Opinion polls

First round

Publication date Poll source Sample size Others/
Undecided
Hundstorfer
SPÖ		 Khol
ÖVP		 Hofer
FPÖ		 Van der Bellen
Greens		 Griss
Ind.		 Lugner
Ind.
2016
24 Apr Election — 11 11 35 21 19 2 —
19 Apr meinungsraum.at 600 14 9 22 26 24 5 —
18 Apr OGM/Kurier 889 15 11 24 25 22 3 —
13 Apr Gallup/ÖSTERREICH 400 16 11 24 26 20 3 —
8 Apr Hajek/ATV 700 14 12 24 27 19 4 —
8 Apr OGM/Bundesländerzeitungen 1,013 17 13 22 24 21 2 —
7 Apr Unique Research/Heute 800 14 12 23 29 18 4 —
6 Apr Gallup/ÖSTERREICH 400 14 12 23 26 21 4 —
24 Mar Spectra/ORF 1,000 14 13 21 29 19 4 —
24 Mar SORA/ORF 1,000 14 12 21 30 20 3 —
24 Mar Gallup/ÖSTERREICH 400 17 13 21 25 19 5 —
Polls conducted ahead of the release of the official list of candidates
24 Mar IMAS/Kronen Zeitung 1,017 21 15 21 19 13 7 4
23 Mar OGM/Team Griss 1,019 19 10 22 26 20 — 3
10 Mar Gallup/ÖSTERREICH 400 16 16 19 26 19 4 —
27 Feb GfK/Salzburger Nachrichten 1,800 19–20 19–20 16–17 24–25 18–19 — 2
25 Feb Gallup/ÖSTERREICH 400 16 14 19 27 19 5 —
5 Feb Hajek/ATV 700 15 17 20 29 18 — —
15 17 18 29 17 3 —
4 Feb Gallup/ÖSTERREICH 400 17 13 19 28 22 — —
17 13 18 27 19 7 —
30 Jan OGM/Kurier 504 23 14 17 26 20 — —
28 Jan Gallup/ÖSTERREICH 400 17 15 8 33 27 — —

Second round

Publication date Poll source Sample size Undecided
Hofer
FPÖ		 Van der Bellen
Greens
28 Apr Gallup/Österreich 400 50 50 —
Polls conducted ahead of first round (2016)
24 Apr Hajek/ATV unknown 40 43 —
6 Apr Gallup/ÖSTERREICH (run-off polls) 400 48 52 —
10 Mar Gallup/ÖSTERREICH 400 45 55 —
25 Feb Gallup/ÖSTERREICH 400 42 58 —
5 Feb Hajek/ATV (run-off polls) 700 27 39 —

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Presidential election in Austria, 2016.
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  26. ↑ "Stenzel als FPÖ-Kandidatin für Bundespräsidentenwahl praktisch fix". Trend.at. 2016-01-26. Retrieved 2016-04-05.
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  35. ↑ 100.000 Euro: Erste Großspende für Griss' Kampagne Der Standard, 18 December 2015 (German)
  36. ↑ NEOS begrüßen Griss Kandidatur zur Bundespräsidentin “außerordentlich” Vienna Online, 18 December 2015
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  47. ↑ Unden, Thomas. ""Asyl-Arzt" will Bundespräsident werden". Oe24.at. Retrieved 2016-04-05.
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  52. ↑ "neuwal on Twitter: "Bewerbungsbüro neuwal meldet eine neue Kandidatin. "". Twitter. 2016-01-23. Retrieved 2016-04-05.
  53. ↑ Robert Marschall. "Robert Marschall, Kandidat der Bundespräsidentenwahl 2016 in Österreich". Marschall2016.at. Retrieved 2016-04-05.
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  55. ↑ "Hofburg-Wahl: Noch kein Kandidat fix zur Halbzeit". Nachrichten.at. 2015-01-02. Retrieved 2016-04-05.
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  59. ↑ von Dieter Zirnig. "Robert Marschall kandidert?". Neuwal.com. Retrieved 2016-04-05.
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  62. ↑ Philipp Aichinger. "Unterschriften: Auch Lugner will nun genug haben «". Diepresse.com. Retrieved 2016-04-05.
  63. ↑ "Hofburg-Wahl: Marschall schaffte nur 1.150 Unterschriften - news.ORF.at". Orf.at. 2016-03-23. Retrieved 2016-04-05.
  64. ↑ "Bundespräsidentenwahl 2016 - Endgültige Zahl der Wahlberechtigten". bmi.gv.at. 2016-04-12. Retrieved 2016-04-13.
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  66. 1 2 "Far-right Freedom party wins first round of Austria’s presidential poll". Financial Times. 2016-04-24. Retrieved 2016-04-26.
  67. ↑ "Austrian far-right party's triumph in presidential poll could spell turmoil". The Guardian. 2016-04-25. Retrieved 2016-04-26.
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