FPÖ at the top, ÖVP loses significantly in votes

Austria has voted, now the votes are being counted one by one. This article is continually updated.

UPDATE (September 30, 8:40 a.m.): Preliminary election results

Now that the counted votes from all municipalities have been received by the Federal Ministry of the Interior, the following preliminary result results:

Of the 6,346,059 eligible voters, 4,753,340 cast their votes, 4,708,382 of which were valid. A large proportion of the postal votes have already been included. Votes from voting cards that will be evaluated on Monday and Thursday are still missing here. The voter turnout was 74.9 percent.

• FPÖ – 29.2 percent or 1,375,464 votes
• ÖVP – 26.5 percent or 1,246,676 votes
• SPÖ – 21.0 percent or 991,069 votes
• Neos – 9.0 percent or 421,954 votes
• Greens – 8.0 percent or 378,113 votes
• KPÖ – 2.3 percent or 110,439 votes
• Beer – 2.0 percent or 93,554 votes
• LMP – 0.6 percent or 26,927 votes
• None – 0.6 percent or 26,444 votes
• MFG – 0.4 percent or 18,799 votes
• Gaza – 0.4 percent or 18,796 votes
• Yellow – 0.0 percent or 147 votes

The mandates are therefore distributed as follows:

• FPÖ – 58
• ÖVP – 52
• SPÖ – 41
• Neos – 17
• Green – 15

The preliminary final result will be known next Thursday, October 3rd, and the final result of the 2024 National Council election will be on October 16th.

UPDATE (8:20 p.m.): Current numbers and voter turnout

According to the latest projections, the FPÖ now has 28.9 percent of the vote, the ÖVP 26.3 percent, the SPÖ receives 21 percent of the vote, the Neos 9.1 percent and the Greens 8.3 percent. (Fluctuation range +/- 0.6) Around 83 percent of the votes have been counted so far.

The mandates are currently distributed as follows: FPÖ 57 (+26), ÖVP 51 (-20), SPÖ 41 (+1), Neos 18 (+3), Greens 16 (-10)

Around 6.35 million Austrians were eligible to vote in the 2024 National Council election, of which exactly 1,097,771 people were in Upper Austria. According to the current status, including the voting card forecast, voter turnout is 77.2 percent. In 2019, 75.6 percent of Austrians eligible to vote took part in the National Council election.

UPDATE (7:30 p.m.): SPOÖ state party chairman Michael Lindner: Election result is “bitter disappointment”

State party chairman of the SPOÖ State Councilor Michael Lindner: The election results clearly show that the incumbent federal government was massively voted out of office and punished. There is one election winner, that is the FPÖ, and we have to acknowledge that without envy. We as the SPÖ simply did not manage to use this dissatisfaction to achieve a good election result. There is nothing better, it is a bitter disappointment to come third in a National Council election for the first time in the history of the SPÖ.”

Lindner does not assume that the Liva scandal, in which ex-mayor Klaus Luger (SP) was also involved, caused a loss of votes: “That has long since faded away.” I think it was about the issues , which we haven’t addressed enough, which are burning under people’s nails across Austria – we obviously haven’t been able to achieve this with our prioritization. Now we honestly have to turn over every stone in the SPÖ and ruthlessly analyze where our problems lie.”

UPDATE (6:58 p.m.): Governor Thomas Stelzer (VP): “We are of course disappointed”

State Governor Thomas Stelzer (VP) has now also commented on the election results to Tips: “I would like to thank everyone who we elected as ÖVP today.” But of course I would like to say that we are disappointed. We wanted to win, but that didn’t work out. This cannot and should not be glossed over and that is why we now have to do better. In Upper Austria we are in the middle of the period – we have a well-functioning government team – we have worked reliably so far and we will continue to do so.

UPDATE (6:45 p.m.): Manfred Haimbuchner (FP) will stay in Upper Austria

There is also a reaction to the provisional election results from the deputy federal party leader of the FPÖ, Deputy Governor Manfred Haimbuchner: “You can see that people want a change.” We will now wait for today, wait for the final result and then it will be a matter of: to work for our homeland Austria. Which coalitions are possible is calculated mathematically and determined by the programs. I think the result is very clear, we are in first place and we will rely on leading the country.” The Upper Austrian emphasizes that he does not want to go to Vienna, but rather concentrate on the next state elections in Upper Austria in 2027.

MFG club chairman Manuel Krautgartner on missing a place in the National Council: “The hope was of course that we would at least just manage to get in.” The other parties have 6 million euros per party at their disposal, tax money that is being squandered – and we have it too 300,000 euros ran the election campaign for the whole of Austria and it would be difficult or almost impossible to reach many people. Now we have to see what the next government will do and whether it will keep its word. That was not the case in Upper Austria with the Haimbuchner-FPÖ.” The work in Upper Austria is definitely continuing, says Krautgartner, it has only just begun. They want to run again in the next elections.

UPDATE (6 p.m.): Reactions from ÖVP, Greens and Neos from Upper Austria

The Upper Austrian Greens are reacting to the preliminary election results with fighting spirit. “We already promise today that we will continue to fight for climate protection with every fiber of our being, defend achievements such as the climate ticket with great passion and promote courageous soil protection.” “Now is not the time to bury our heads in the sand, but right now “Now we can work together for a better tomorrow,” said Green State spokesman, State Councilor Stefan Kaineder.

The OÖVP is disappointed with the election results. “We imagined the outcome differently. There’s nothing too nice about it. Today we see again that the European trend does not stop at Austria. After crises, people’s criticism is directed at those who are currently responsible and not at those who primarily point out problems. The FPÖ was already ahead in the EU elections. As it stands, the People’s Party is still in second place today. “If you consider that the polls showed the People’s Party in third place months ago, second place is what was realistically achievable for us today,” commented OÖVP state manager Florian Hiegelsberger.

The Neos Upper Austria celebrate the preliminary election results as an “excellent result”. “With this result, we are the second-largest winner of this election and may also end up ahead of the Greens for the first time.” The loss of the other parties is a clear mandate – there can be no “business as usual”. We call on the other parties, especially the ÖVP, to join our reform course. “With the energy expert and manager Karin Doppelbauer and Markus Hofer, who comes from industry management, we are definitely sending two outstanding personalities from Upper Austria to the National Council who will drive this course forward,” said NEOS country spokesman Felix Eypeltauer.

UPDATE (September 29th, 5:55 p.m.): New projections and possible coalitions

There is now a new projection, 44.7 percent of the votes have been counted so far: the FPÖ achieved 29 percent, the ÖVP 26.2 percent and the SPÖ 20.7 percent. The Neos overtake with 9.1 percent, the Greens with 8.9 percent.

The mandates are currently distributed as follows: FPÖ 57, ÖVP 51, SPÖ 41, Greens 17, Neos 17

Possible coalitions could be formed by FPÖ and ÖVP, ÖVP and SPÖ, ÖVP and SPÖ with Neos or Greens.

UPDATE (September 29th, 5:30 p.m.): Reactions from the winners from Upper Austria

The FPÖ celebrated the first election result in the Upper Austria press center. Herwig Mahr, club chairman of the FPÖ Upper Austria, said: “Of course I’m extremely pleased. It is the best result that the FPÖ has achieved in its history. One can draw two conclusions: change is desired, standstill has been voted out. The FPÖ is bringing about change because this system of the last 5 years has simply not proven itself. I think that Upper Austria is making excellent policies with Manfred Haimbuchner. We are in the government, it works very well for us with the ÖVP and I believe we can also be a role model for all of Austria.”

FPOÖ top candidate Hermann Brückl is also pleased with the election result: “I didn’t expect it to look so clear and I hope it stays that way.” I was very excited today, but now I’m of course completely relieved. Herbert Kickl will convene the committees on Tuesday and then they will discuss.”

First projection

In the first projection (according to ORF), the FPÖ emerged as the clear winner with 29.1 percent. In the 2019 National Council election, the Freedom Party achieved 16.2 percent, so today there is an increase of around 13 percent.

The ÖVP lost around 11 percent of 37.5 percent and today won 26.2 percent of the votes cast.

The SPÖ suffered slight losses and achieved 20.4 percent of the vote (2019: 21.2 percent), as did the Greens with 8.6 percent (2019: 13.9 percent). The Neos increased slightly and reached 8.8 percent (2019: 8.1 percent).

A party can enter the National Council from four percent. From today’s perspective, the 4 percent hurdle has not been reached: BIER (2.1 percent), KPÖ (2.9 percent), NO (0.6 percent), LMP (0.5 percent), MFG (0.4 percent). ). ), GAZA (0.2 percent) and UBI (0.0 percent)

The count rate is currently 31.3 percent.

Around 1.01 million people in Upper Austria are entitled to vote

There are around 10,000 polling stations in Austria, the first closed at 6 a.m. today and the last closed at 5 p.m. Around 6.35 million Austrians were eligible to vote, of which exactly 1,097,771 people were in Upper Austria. 183 members of the National Council are elected.