2018 Lower Austrian state election

Last updated
2018 Lower Austrian state election
Flag of Lower Austria (state).svg
  2013 28 January 2018 2023  

All 56 seats in the Landtag of Lower Austria
29 seats needed for a majority
All 9 seats in the state government
Turnout922,807 (66.6%)
Decrease2.svg 4.3%
 First partySecond partyThird party
  2016-02-15-Johanna Mikl-Leitner-hart aber fair-4566 cropped.jpg
Franz Schnabl.jpg
20180121 NOE Landtagswahl 0414.jpg
Leader Johanna Mikl-Leitner Franz Schnabl Udo Landbauer
Party ÖVP SPÖ FPÖ
Last election30 seats, 50.8%13 seats, 21.6%4 seats, 8.2%
Seats won29138
Seat changeDecrease2.svg 1Steady2.svg 0Increase2.svg 4
Popular vote450,812217,289134,085
Percentage49.6%23.9%14.8%
SwingDecrease2.svg 1.2%Increase2.svg 2.3%Increase2.svg 6.6%

 Fourth partyFifth party
 
Krismer-Huber Helga 23-05-13 KG 01.JPG
20180121 NOE Landtagswahl 0347.jpg
LeaderHelga Krismer Indra Collini
Party Greens NEOS
Last election4 seats, 8.1%Did not contest
Seats won33
Seat changeDecrease2.svg 1Increase2.svg 3
Popular vote58,40146,801
Percentage6.4%5.2%
SwingDecrease2.svg 1.6%Increase2.svg 5.2%

State election card Lower Austria 2018.svg
Results by municipality.

Governor before election

Johanna Mikl-Leitner
ÖVP

Elected Governor

Johanna Mikl-Leitner
ÖVP

The 2018 Lower Austrian state election was held on 28 January 2018 to elect the members of the Landtag of Lower Austria.

Contents

The ruling Austrian People's Party (ÖVP) fell just short of an absolute majority of votes, but retained its majority in the Landtag. Nonetheless, this was its worst result in the state since 1998. The Social Democratic Party of Austria (SPÖ) and Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ) made gains, with the latter doubling its share of seats. The Greens took minor losses, while NEOS – The New Austria (NEOS) contested its first state election in Lower Austria, debuting at 5.2%. Team Stronach, which had won 9.8% in the previous election, did not compete. [1]

Background

The Lower Austrian constitution mandates that cabinet positions in the state government (state councillors, German : Landesräten) 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. After the 2013 election, the ÖVP had six councillors, the SPÖ two, and Team Stronach one.

Electoral system

The 56 seats of the Landtag of Lower Austria are elected via open list proportional representation in a two-step process. The seats are distributed between twenty 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. [2]

Contesting parties

The table below lists parties represented in the previous Landtag.

NameIdeologyLeader2013 result
Votes (%)SeatsCouncillors
ÖVP Austrian People's Party
Österreichische Volkspartei
Christian democracy Johanna Mikl-Leitner 50.8%
30 / 56
6 / 9
SPÖ Social Democratic Party of Austria
Sozialdemokratische Partei Österreichs
Social democracy Franz Schnabl21.6%
13 / 56
2 / 9
FPÖ Freedom Party of Austria
Freiheitliche Partei Österreichs
Right-wing populism
Euroscepticism
Udo Landbauer 8.2%
4 / 56
GRÜNE The Greens – The Green Alternative
Die Grünen – Die Grüne Alternative
Green politics Helga Krismer8.1%
4 / 56

Team Stronach, which contested the previous election and won 9.8% of votes, five seats, and one state councillor, did not contest the 2018 election.

In addition to the parties already represented in the Landtag, four parties collected enough signatures to be placed on the ballot. [3]

Opinion polling

Polling firmFieldwork dateSample
size
ÖVP SPÖ FPÖ Grüne NEOS OthersLead
2018 state election28 Jan 201849.623.914.86.45.20.125.7
Research Affairs 16–18 Jan 201841345232155122
OGM 8–16 Jan 20188314526195519
Public Opinion Strategies 2–11 Jan 201880548231756125
Market January 2018 ?46241756222
Unique Research 2–10 Jan 201850047231855224
Research Affairs 3–5 Jan 201841045222145323
SOZAB 30 Oct–25 Nov 20171,50050221654328
OGM 9–14 Nov 201778445252044220
2013 state election 3 Mar 201350.821.68.28.111.3 [lower-alpha 1] 29.2

Results

Landtag of Lower Austria 2018.svg
PartyVotes %+/−Seats+/−Coun.+/−
Austrian People's Party (ÖVP)450,81249.63–1.1629–16±0
Social Democratic Party of Austria (SPÖ)217,28923.92+2.3513±02±0
Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ)134,08514.76+6.558+41+1
The Greens – The Green Alternative (GRÜNE)58,4016.43–1.633–10±0
NEOS – The New Austria (NEOS)46,8015.15+5.153+30New
Christian Party of Austria (CPÖ)5840.06–0.030±00±0
We for Lower Austria (WFNOE)3670.04New0New0New
Invalid/blank votes14,468
Total922,80710056090
Registered voters/turnout1,386,35666.56–4.31
Source: Lower Austrian Government
Popular vote
ÖVP
49.63%
SPÖ
23.92%
FPÖ
14.76%
GRÜNE
6.43%
NEOS
5.15%
Other
0.10%
Landtag seats
ÖVP
51.78%
SPÖ
23.21%
FPÖ
14.28%
GRÜNE
5.36%
NEOS
5.36%

Results by constituency

Constituency ÖVP SPÖ FPÖ Grüne NEOS OthersTotal
seats
Turnout
 %S %S %S %S %S %
Amstetten 52.7223.0113.85.54.60.4369.4
Baden 40.1229.0115.97.86.60.5361.5
Bruck an der Leitha 41.7130.3117.06.34.7260.7
Gänserndorf 46.4128.216.55.33.6162.5
Gmünd 53.926.113.33.53.2069.5
Hollabrunn 58.1119.713.25.43.6170.4
Horn 65.015.811.74.13.4072.7
Korneuburg 49.4122.713.38.26.4165.0
Krems an der Donau 54.0120.214.16.15.6170.4
Lilienfeld 48.629.513.84.43.6072.1
Melk 52.4122.716.04.63.90.4170.8
Mistelbach 57.1119.613.85.73.9170.5
Mödling 43.4123.0111.411.710.20.3264.1
Neunkirchen 45.5128.9117.14.63.9266.2
Sankt Pölten 45.8226.6114.17.85.7366.2
Scheibbs 59.520.112.14.43.9072.4
Tulln 50.9120.113.49.06.6165.7
Waidhofen an der Thaya 55.016.820.44.53.3069.8
Wiener Neustadt 45.7226.6118.34.84.6363.0
Zwettl 63.4113.115.64.33.6173.2
Remaining seats10683330
Total49.62923.91314.886.435.230.15666.6
Source: Lower Austrian Government

Preference votes

Alongside votes for a party, voters were able to cast a preferential votes for a candidate on the party list. The ten candidates with the most preferential votes were as follows: [4]

PartyPos.CandidateVotes%
ÖVP 1 Johanna Mikl-Leitner 186,13377.4
FPÖ 1 Udo Landbauer 41,46175.3
SPÖ 1Franz Schnabl39,95058.8
ÖVP 2Stefan Pernkopf18,4657.7
ÖVP 4Karl Wilfing7,4913.1
ÖVP 6Ludwig Schleritzko7,0912.9
GRÜNE 1Helga Krismer7,07942.4
NEOS 1 Indra Collini 6,95959.7
SPÖ 2Karin Renner4,3096.3
FPÖ 2Gottfried Waldhäusl4,1337.5

Aftermath

The ÖVP retained its Landtag majority and six out of nine state councillors; the SPÖ also retained its two councillors. With the disappearance of Team Stronach, the FPÖ moved into third place on a strong swing, and won one state councillor. [5]

Notes

  1. Including Team Stronach (9.8%), which did not contest the 2018 election.

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References

  1. "State of Lower Austria - Landtag election 2018". Lower Austrian Government.
  2. "ROS - NÖ Landtag electoral law 1992 - State law for Lower Austria, version of 04.08.2020". Lower Austrian Government.
  3. "Parties". Lower Austrian Government.
  4. "Candidates". Lower Austrian Government.
  5. "State government". Lower Austrian Government.