2018 Carinthian state election

2018 Carinthian state election

←  2013 5 March 2018 2023  →
All 36 seats in the Landtag of Carinthia 19 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	297,921 (68.6%) 6.5%
First party Second party Third party   Leader Peter Kaiser Gernot Darmann Christian Benger Party SPÖ FPÖ ÖVP Last election 14 seats, 37.1% 6 seats, 16.8% 5 seats, 14.4% Seats won 18 9 6 Seat change 4 3 1 Popular vote 140,994 67,538 45,438 Percentage 47.9% 23.0% 15.5% Swing 10.8% 6.2% 1.1%   Fourth party Fifth party   Leader Gerhard Köfer Rolf Holub Party TK Greens Last election 4 seats, 11.1% 5 seats, 12.1% Seats won 3 0 Seat change 1 5 Popular vote 16,667 9,188 Percentage 5.7% 3.1% Swing 5.5% 9.0%
Results by municipality. The lighter shade indicates a plurality; the darker shade indicates a majority.
Governor before election Peter Kaiser SPÖ Elected Governor Peter Kaiser SPÖ

The 2018 Carinthian state election was held on 5 March 2018 to elect the members of the Landtag of Carinthia.

The centre-left Social Democratic Party of Austria (SPÖ) was the clear winner, taking 47.9% of votes, an eleven percentage point increase from 2013. The Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ) gained six points, and the Austrian People's Party (ÖVP) gained one. This was enabled by a collapse in support for other parties: Team Carinthia, which had split from defunct Team Stronach, lost half its voteshare; The Greens tumbled from 12% to 3% and lost their representation; and the Alliance for the Future of Austria (BZÖ) collapsed from 6.4% to just 0.4%.

The SPÖ fell one seat short of an absolute majority, and held exploratory talks with the three other parties in the Landtag. They ultimately formed a coalition government with the ÖVP. ^[1]

Background

Prior to amendments made in 2017, the Carinthian constitution mandated that cabinet positions in the state government be allocated between parties proportionally in accordance with the share of votes won by each; this is known as Proporz. As such, the government was a perpetual coalition of all parties that qualified for at least one cabinet position. In June 2017, the SPÖ, ÖVP, and Greens (all members of the government) as well as Team Carinthia voted to amend the constitution to remove this requirement. ^[2] As such, the 2018 election was the first in post-war Carinthian history in which conventional coalition formation could take place. ^[3]

In the 2013 election, the Freedom Party in Carinthia suffered the largest defeat of any party in Austrian history, falling from 45% to just 17%. Their collapse led to a highly fractious result, with five parties winning at least one state councillor. However, the SPÖ emerged as a clear victor with 37% of the vote. The FPK, having previously been the dominant party in the state, won only one state councillor. Shortly after the election, they voted to give up their independence and merge into the federal Freedom Party. The SPÖ subsequently formed a governing agreement with the ÖVP and Greens.

Electoral system

The 36 seats of the Landtag of Carinthia are elected via open list proportional representation in a two-step process. The seats are distributed between four 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 5 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

The table below lists parties represented in the previous Landtag.

Name			Ideology	Leader	2013 result
					Votes (%)	Seats
	SPÖ	Social Democratic Party of Austria Sozialdemokratische Partei Österreichs	Social democracy	Peter Kaiser	37.1%	14 / 36
	FPÖ	Freedom Party of Austria Freiheitliche Partei Österreichs	Right-wing populism Euroscepticism	Gernot Darmann	16.8%	6 / 36
	ÖVP	Austrian People's Party Österreichische Volkspartei	Christian democracy	Wolfgang Waldner	14.4%	5 / 36
	GRÜNE	The Greens – The Green Alternative Die Grünen – Die Grüne Alternative	Green politics	Rolf Holub	12.1%	5 / 36
	TK	Team Carinthia Team Kärnten	Populism	Gerhard Köfer	11.1%	4 / 36
	BZÖ	Alliance for the Future of Austria Bündnis Zukunft Österreich	National conservatism	Helmut Nikel	6.4%	2 / 36

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

• NEOS – The New Austria and Liberal Forum (NEOS)
• Communist Party of Austria (KPÖ) – on the ballot only in Klagenfurt, Carinthia East, and Villach
• Responsibility Earth (ERDE)
• FAIR (FAIR)

Opinion polling

Polling firm	Fieldwork date	Sample size	SPÖ	FPÖ	ÖVP	Grüne	TK	BZÖ	NEOS	Others	Lead
2018 state election	5 March 2018	–	47.9	22.9	15.4	3.1	5.7	0.4	2.1	2.7	25.0
OGM	14–20 Feb 2018	786	44	24	18	2–3	5	–	4–5	1–2	20
M+R	Autumn 2017	500	42–44	26–28	16–18	3–4	5–6	–	2–3	2	14–18
TrendCom	February 2017	1,100	39	28	13	12	4	0	3	–	11
IFAP	12 Aug 2014	?	43	16	17	13	4	2	4	–	26
Humaninstitut	26 Mar 2014	?	38	16	12	14	10	3	7	–	22
IMAS	28 Feb 2014	?	36	18	10	15	8	1.5	10	1.5	18
2013 state election	3 March 2013	–	37.1	16.8	14.4	12.1	11.2	6.4	–	1.9	20.3

Results

Party		Votes	%	+/−	Seats	+/−
	Social Democratic Party of Austria (SPÖ)	140,994	47.94	+10.81	18	+4
	Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ)	67,538	22.96	+6.11	9	+3
	Austrian People's Party (ÖVP)	45,438	15.45	+1.05	6	+1
	Team Carinthia (TK)	16,667	5.67	–5.51	3	–1
	The Greens – The Green Alternative (GRÜNE)	9,188	3.12	–8.98	0	–5
	NEOS – The New Austria (NEOS)	6,307	2.14	New	0	New
	Responsibility EARTH (ERDE)	5,441	1.85	New	0	New
	Alliance for the Future of Austria (BZÖ)	1,075	0.37	–6.03	0	–2
	Communist Party of Austria (KPÖ)	822	0.28	+0.28	0	±0
	FAIR (FAIR)	622	0.21	New	0	New
Invalid/blank votes		3,826	–	–	–	–
Total		297,918	100	–	36	0
Registered voters/turnout		434,121	68.63	–6.52	–	–
Source: Carinthian Government Archived 2018-03-05 at the Wayback Machine

Popular vote SPÖ   47.94% FPÖ   22.96% ÖVP   15.45% TK   5.67% GRÜNE   3.12% NEOS   2.14% Other   2.72%

Landtag seats SPÖ   50.00% FPÖ   25.00% ÖVP   16.67% TK   8.33%

Results by constituency

Constituency	SPÖ		FPÖ		ÖVP		TK		Grüne		NEOS		Others	Total seats	Turnout
	%	S	%	S	%	S	%	S	%	S	%	S	%
Klagenfurt	51.7	5	19.9	1	13.3	1	4.9		5.0		2.6		2.7	7	67.4
Carinthia East	46.4	4	25.8	2	17.0	1	4.8		2.2		1.9		1.9	7	69.3
Villach	51.2	4	21.6	1	12.4		5.4		2.9		2.1		4.5	5	67.9
Carinthia West	42.3	3	24.5	1	19.0	1	7.9		2.3		1.9		2.1	5	70.0
Remaining seats		2		4		3		3		0		0		12
Total	47.9	18	22.9	9	15.4	6	5.7	3	3.1	0	2.1	0	2.7	36	68.6
Source: Carinthian Government

Aftermath

After the election, the SPÖ began exploratory talks with the three other parties in the Landtag. By the beginning of April, a coalition agreement had been reached with the ÖVP. However, after ÖVP leader Christian Benger unexpectedly resigned a few days later, the SPÖ led by Kaiser demanded the coalition be renegotiated, fearing the new ÖVP leadership may renege on promises made by their predecessors. ^[6] On 9 April, the coalition was finalised and presented. ^[1]

References

1. "New faces in the state government". ORF . 9 April 2018.
2. "Carinthia abolishes the Proporz". Die Presse. 1 June 2017.
3. "New rules for government formation in the future". ORF. 23 December 2017.
4. "LT2018_Mandate.pdf" (PDF). Carinthian Government.
5. "Landtag election 4 March 2018". Carinthian Government. Archived from the original on 5 March 2018. Retrieved 3 August 2020.
6. "Coalition wobbles after Benger resigns". ORF. 4 April 2018.