2021 Upper Austrian state election

The 2021 Upper Austrian state election was held on 26 September 2021 to elect the members of the Landtag of Upper Austria.[1]

2021 Upper Austrian state election

← 2015 26 September 2021

All 56 seats in the Landtag of Upper Austria
29 seats needed for a majority
All 9 seats in the state government
Turnout76.3% Decrease 5.3 pp
  First party Second party Third party
 
Stelzer Thomas BHO-7671.jpg
ManfredHaimbuchner cropped.jpg
2016 Birgit Gerstorfer - SPÖ Bundesparteitag (27860572416) (cropped).jpg
Leader Thomas Stelzer Manfred Haimbuchner Birgit Gerstorfer
Party ÖVP FPÖ SPÖ
Last election 21 seats, 36.4% 18 seats, 30.4% 11 seats, 18.4%
Seats won 22 11 11
Seat change Increase 1 Decrease 7 Steady 0
Popular vote 303,835 159,692 150,094
Percentage 37.6% 19.8% 18.6%
Swing Increase 1.2% Decrease 10.6% Increase 0.2%

  Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party
 
Leader Stefan Kaineder Joachim Aigner Felix Eypeltauer
Party Greens MFG NEOS
Last election 6 seats, 10.3% Did not exist 0 seats, 3.5%
Seats won 7 3 2
Seat change Increase 1 Increase 3 Increase 2
Popular vote 99,496 50,325 34,204
Percentage 12.3% 6.2% 4.2%
Swing Increase 2.0% New party Increase 0.8%

Results by municipality. The lighter shade indicates a plurality; the darker shade indicates a majority.

Governor before election

Thomas Stelzer
ÖVP

Elected Governor

Thomas Stelzer
ÖVP

The Austrian People's Party (ÖVP) remained the largest party with small gains. Of the six parties which won seats in the Landtag, the Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ) was the only one to suffer losses, falling from 31% of votes to 20%. The Social Democratic Party of Austria (SPÖ) recorded minimal change compared to 2015 and remained in third place with 19%, tying the FPÖ with 11 seats. The Greens improved their performance to over 12%. NEOS – The New Austria narrowly passed the electoral threshold and entered the Landtag for the first time with 4%. Unexpectedly, the anti-vaccination MFG party won 6% and three seats.[2]

Background

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The Upper Austrian constitution mandates that cabinet positions in the state government (state councillors, German: Landesräte) be allocated between parties proportionally in accordance with the share of votes won by each; this is known as Proporz. As such, the government is a perpetual coalition of all parties that qualify for at least one state councillor. Despite this, parties still establish formal coalitions to organise cabinet positions and ensure a Landtag majority for legislative purposes.

In the 2015 state election, the ÖVP and SPÖ suffered major losses to the FPÖ, which doubled its vote share to 30% and became the second largest party. The ÖVP, lacking a majority in the state council, subsequently signed a working agreement with the FPÖ.

Governor Josef Pühringer resigned in 2017 after 22 years in office. He was succeeded on 6 April by Deputy Governor and fellow ÖVP member Thomas Stelzer, who was elected by the Landtag with 51 of 55 votes.[3]

Electoral system

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The 56 seats of the Landtag of Upper Austria are elected via open list proportional representation in a two-step process. The seats are distributed between five multi-member constituencies. For parties to receive any representation in the Landtag, they must either win at least one seat in a constituency directly, or clear a 4 percent state-wide electoral threshold. Seats are distributed in constituencies according to the Hare quota, with any remaining seats allocated using the D'Hondt method at the state level, to ensure overall proportionality between a party's vote share and its share of seats.[4]

Contesting parties

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The table below lists parties represented in the previous Landtag.

Name Ideology Leader 2015 result
Votes (%) Seats Councillors
ÖVP Austrian People's Party
Österreichische Volkspartei
Christian democracy Thomas Stelzer 36.4%
21 / 56
4 / 9
FPÖ Freedom Party of Austria
Freiheitliche Partei Österreichs
Right-wing populism
Euroscepticism
Manfred Haimbuchner 30.4%
18 / 56
3 / 9
SPÖ Social Democratic Party of Austria
Sozialdemokratische Partei Österreichs
Social democracy Birgit Gerstorfer 18.4%
11 / 56
1 / 9
GRÜNE The Greens – The Green Alternative
Die Grünen – Die Grüne Alternative
Green politics Stefan Kaineder 10.3%
6 / 56
1 / 9

In addition to the parties already represented in the Landtag, seven parties collected enough signatures to be placed on the ballot.[5][6]

Lead candidates

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Party Candidate Offices held
ÖVP
Thomas Stelzer[1] Governor of Upper Austria (since 2017)[7]
Chairman of ÖVP Upper Austria (since 2017)[3]
FPÖ
Manfred Haimbuchner[1] Deputy Governor of Upper Austria (since 2015)[8]
SPÖ
Birgit Gerstorfer[9] Chairwoman of SPÖ Upper Austria (since 2016)[9]
State Councillor of Upper Austria (since 2016)[10]
GRÜNE   Stefan Kaineder[11] Spokesman of The Greens Upper Austria (since 2019)[11]
State Councillor of Upper Austria (since 2020)[12]

Opinion polling

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Polling firm Fieldwork date Sample
size
ÖVP FPÖ SPÖ Grüne NEOS MFG Lead
2021 state election 26 Sep 2021 37.6 19.8 18.6 12.3 4.2 6.2 17.8
M & R Marktforschung 22 Sep 2021 500 38 22 18 12 5 4.5 16
Research Affairs 13–16 Sep 2021 400 41 23 17 11 5 3 18
GMK September 2021 400 40 23.5 17 13 3 3 16.5
Market 9–14 Sep 2021 800 38 22 18 12 5 4 16
IFES 6–10 Sep 2021 838 39 19 20 13 5 4 19
Unique Research 6–9 Sep 2021 800 36 22 20 13 4 14
M & R Marktforschung 6–8 Sep 2021 500 38 23 18 12 5 3 15
Research Affairs 31 Aug-2 Sep 2021 400 40 25 17 11 5 15
Spectra 23–31 Aug 2021 800 40 24 15 16 3 16
ARGE Wahlen 23–26 Aug 2021 500 39 24 18 12 5 15
Market 25 Aug 2021 ? 40 22 18 12 6 18
Unique Research 10–17 Aug 2021 800 38 22 18 12 6 16
Spectra 21 Jun–5 Jul 2021 800 41 24 17 14 3 17
GMK 21–23 Jun 2021 400 42 22.5 17 11 5 19.5
IFES 25 May–11 Jun 2021 827 41 17 21 11 7 20
Research Affairs 18–20 May 2021 300 38 25 20 12 4 13
Unique Research 3–6 May 2021 800 39 21 21 12 6 18
GMK April 2021 400 39.5 21.5 18 13 4 18
Spectra 4–12 Mar 2021 800 43 22 17 14 3 21
M & R Marktforschung 27 Oct–6 Nov 2020 500 41.5 22.5 18.5 13.5 3.5 19.0
Spectra 18 Jul 2020 ? 42 24 15 15 3 18
IMAS 25 Jul 2019 805 41 25 13 16 16
Spectra 18 Jun–2 Jul 2019 700 42 24 15 14 18
IFES 29 April 2019 1,000 37.5 23.5 21.0 8.5 14.0
Spectra 21 Dec 2018 ? 40 28 17 10 4 12
Spectra 23 Aug–3 Sep 2018 687 41 29 17 8 4 12
Spectra 17 Apr 2018 ? 42 31 17 6 3 11
ifab/Gallup 16 Feb 2018 ? 41.5 26.5 20.5 8.5 2.5 15.0
Spectra 23 Oct–3 Nov 2017 638 42 34 15 5 8
Spectra 5–17 Jul 2017 551 42 34 14 8 8
M & R Marktforschung 13 Jul 2017 500 40.5 28.5 17.5 9.5 2.5 12.0
Spectra 24 Feb 2017 ? 40 35 15 9 1 5
IMAS 8 May 2016 ? 33 34 18 11 4 1
Spectra 8 May 2016 ? 35 34 15 12 2 1
IMAS 27 Dec 2015 1,000 34 32 17 13 4 2
2015 state election 27 Sep 2015 36.4 30.4 18.4 10.3 3.5 6.0

Results

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Party Votes % +/− Seats +/− Coun. +/−
Austrian People's Party (ÖVP) 303,835 37.61 +1.24 22 +1 4 ±0
Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ) 159,692 19.77 –10.59 11 –7 2 –1
Social Democratic Party of Austria (SPÖ) 150,094 18.58 +0.21 11 ±0 2 +1
The Greens – The Green Alternative (GRÜNE) 99,496 12.32 +2.00 7 +1 1 ±0
MFG – Austria People – Freedom – Fundamental Rights (MFG) 50,325 6.23 New 3 New 0 New
NEOS – The New Austria (NEOS) 34,204 4.23 +0.76 2 +2 0 ±0
Communist Party of Austria (KPÖ) 6,504 0.81 +0.06 0 ±0 0 ±0
Best Upper Austria (BESTE) 1,977 0.24 New 0 New 0 New
Christian Party of Austria (CPÖ) 863 0.11 –0.25 0 ±0 0 ±0
Independent Citizens' Movement (UBB) 533 0.07 New 0 New 0 New
Referendum (R) 277 0.05 New 0 New 0 New
Invalid/blank votes 27,348
Total 835,248 100 56 0 9 0
Registered voters/turnout 1,094,074 76.34 –5.29
Source: Upper Austrian Government
Popular vote
ÖVP
37.61%
FPÖ
19.77%
SPÖ
18.58%
GRÜNE
12.32%
MFG
6.23%
NEOS
4.23%
Other
1.26%
Landtag seats
ÖVP
39.29%
FPÖ
19.64%
SPÖ
19.64%
GRÜNE
12.50%
MFG
5.36%
NEOS
3.57%

Results by constituency

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Constituency ÖVP FPÖ SPÖ Grüne MFG NEOS Others Total
seats
Turnout
% S % S % S % S % S % S %
Linz and Surrounds 30.3 3 16.8 2 24.2 2 15.9 1 5.2 5.6 2.1 8 68.5
Innviertel 42.5 3 24.7 2 12.9 1 9.0 6.7 3.5 0.8 6 77.1
Hausruckviertel 37.8 5 22.6 3 17.1 2 11.7 1 5.7 4.1 1.1 11 77.2
Traunviertel 36.3 3 18.2 1 21.1 2 12.0 1 7.3 4.0 1.2 7 76.7
Mühlviertel 41.7 4 17.1 1 17.0 1 12.4 1 6.7 3.9 1.2 7 83.0
Remaining seats 4 2 3 3 3 2 17
Total 37.6 22 19.8 11 18.6 11 12.3 7 6.2 3 4.2 2 1.3 56 76.3
Source: Upper Austrian Government

Government formation

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Compared to the previous legislative period, the ÖVP gained one state councillor while the FPÖ lost one, for a total of 5 ÖVP (includes the governor Thomas Stelzer), 2 FPÖ, 1 SPÖ, and 1 Greens. Three of the nine councillors will be women, up from zero in 2015. Compared to the previous election, 27 of the 56 members of the Landtag are new.

The ÖVP and FPÖ entered coalition talks after the election. On 20 October, they announced that they had successfully reached an agreement to renew their coalition. The contract was approved by the ÖVP and FPÖ party committees later the same day. The new governing contract emphasised further investment in renewable energy such as hydroelectric, wind, and photovoltaic systems on roofs, as well as more investment into public transportation, cancer research, and general research and development, and building Upper Austria as an economic hub. It also emphasised more traditional right-wing issues such as strengthening integration efforts for newly arrived migrants and offering fewer state benefits for those who refuse to participate.[13]

The newly-elected state parliament convened on 23 October to invest the new government. Governor Stelzer was re-elected with 41 of 55 votes. The ÖVP–FPÖ coalition comprises 33 deputies, of which one member of the ÖVP was absent due to COVID quarantine, indicating that nine members of the opposition voted in favour. As the SPÖ and MFG indicated that they would vote against Stelzer's investiture, these votes likely came from the Greens (7 deputies) and NEOS (2). The new cabinet was also confirmed by the Landtag.[14][15]

References

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  1. ^ a b c "Two dates for the state election in 2021". Heute.at. 17 August 2020.
  2. ^ "State election 2021: This is how Upper Austria voted". Oberösterreichische Nachrichten (in German). 26 September 2021.
  3. ^ a b "Upper Austria: Stelzer becomes governor with 92.7 percent". Der Standard. 6 April 2017.
  4. ^ "RIS - Upper Austria Landtag election act". Upper Austrian Government.
  5. ^ "11 parties enter the Upper Austrian state election". Government of Upper Austria (in German). 10 August 2021.
  6. ^ "Eleven lists compete in the Upper Austria election". Wiener Zeitung (in German). 11 August 2021.
  7. ^ "State of Upper Austria - Governor Thomas Stelzer". Retrieved 21 March 2021.
  8. ^ "State of Upper Austria - Deputy Governor Manfred Haimbuchner". Retrieved 21 March 2021.
  9. ^ a b "SPÖ state party conference: protecting jobs". ORF. 28 November 2020.
  10. ^ "State of Upper Austria - State Councillor Birgit Gerstorfer". Archived from the original on 18 April 2021. Retrieved 21 March 2021.
  11. ^ a b "93.8 percent for Kaineder as the Green top candidate". ORF. 27 July 2020.
  12. ^ "State of Upper Austria - State Councillor Stefan Kaineder". Retrieved 21 March 2021.
  13. ^ "Black-blue present government program". ORF (in German). 21 October 2021.
  14. ^ "New state government is in place". ORF (in German). 20 October 2021.
  15. ^ "Thomas Stelzer is elected as Governor". ORF (in German). 23 October 2021.