Austria's Electoral System: How The Voting Process Works

Austria's federal elections are governed by federal law and consist of presidential elections and elections to determine the composition of the National Council (Nationalrat), the lower house of Austria's bicameral Parliament. The upper house, the Federal Council, consists of delegates from the states and is not directly elected. Austria's federal president is elected for a six-year term, with the most recent election taking place in 2022. The election takes place under a two-round system, with a first round of voting followed by a second round between the two highest-ranking candidates if no majority is achieved in the first round. The Austrian constitution defines two types of referendums on the federal level: binding and non-binding.

Federal elections

On the federal level, there are two main elections in Austria: presidential elections and elections to determine the composition of the National Council (Nationalrat), the lower house of Austria's bicameral Parliament. The upper house, the Federal Council, consists of delegates from the states and is not directly elected.

The Austrian president is elected for a six-year term. The election takes place under a two-round system to ensure that the president is supported by a majority of voters. In the first round of voting, unless one candidate gets a majority, a second round is held where only the two highest-ranking candidates from the first round are included.

In National Council elections, proportionality is maximised through the use of a three-stage process of allocating mandates. In this system, voters select among political parties on their ballot, rather than among competing candidates. The standard manner of expressing that choice is by placing an 'x' in the circle next to the name of the party on the paper ballot (Stimmzettel). Voters can also cast preference votes for particular candidates on their favoured party's list, but they may not cross party lines. Any preference votes for candidates of another party are invalid.

The Austrian constitution defines two types of referendums on the federal level: binding and non-binding. Mandatory binding referendums include if the president is removed from office before the end of their term and in the case of a comprehensive change to the Federal Constitution.

Presidential elections

Austria's federal president is elected for a six-year term. The most recent Austrian presidential election took place in 2022. The election takes place under a two-round system to ensure that the president is supported by a majority of voters. Under this system, a first round of voting is held, and unless one candidate gets a majority, a second round is held where only the two highest-ranking candidates from the first round are included.

In Austrian elections, voters select among political parties on their ballot, rather than among competing candidates. The standard way of expressing that choice is by placing an 'x' in the circle next to the name of the party on the paper ballot. Voters can also cast preference votes for particular candidates on their favoured party's list, but they may not cross party lines. Any preference votes for candidates of another party are invalid.

In Austria, there are two main types of federal elections: presidential elections and elections to determine the composition of the National Council (Nationalrat), the lower house of Austria's bicameral Parliament. The upper house, the Federal Council, consists of delegates from the states and is not directly elected.

National Council elections

On the federal level, there are two main elections in Austria: presidential elections and elections to determine the composition of the National Council (Nationalrat), the lower house of Austria's bicameral Parliament. The National Council elections work as follows: voters select among political parties on their ballot, rather than among competing candidates. The standard way of doing this is by placing an 'x' in the circle next to the name of the party on the paper ballot (Stimmzettel). Voters can also affect the fortunes of particular candidates on their favoured party's list by casting preference votes, but they may not cross party lines. Any preference votes for candidates of another party are invalid.

In the National Council elections, proportionality is maximised through the use of a three-stage process of allocating mandates. This means that smaller parties do better under this variant of the PR system when their electoral support is concentrated geographically.

The Austrian constitution defines two types of referendums on the federal level: binding referendums and non-binding referendums. A binding referendum may be mandatory, meaning that it is legally required to take place. For example, if the President is removed from office before the end of their term, or in the case of a comprehensive change to the Federal Constitution.

Voting system

In Austria, there are two main types of federal elections: presidential elections and elections to determine the composition of the National Council (*Nationalrat*), the lower house of Austria's bicameral Parliament. The upper house, the Federal Council, consists of delegates from the states and is not directly elected.

Austrian voters select among political parties on their ballot, rather than among competing candidates. They do this by placing an 'x' in the circle next to the name of the party on the paper ballot (*Stimmzettel*). Voters can also cast preference votes for particular candidates on their favoured party's list, but they may not cross party lines. Any preference votes for candidates of another party are invalid.

In elections for the National Council, proportionality is maximised through a three-stage process of allocating mandates. In the first round of voting, unless one candidate gets a majority, a second round is held where only the two highest-ranking candidates from the first round are included. This is to ensure that the president is supported by a majority of voters.

Referendums

Austria's federal elections are governed by federal law. There are two main federal elections in Austria: presidential elections and elections to determine the composition of the National Council (Nationalrat), the lower house of Austria's bicameral Parliament. The upper house, the Federal Council, consists of delegates from the states and is not directly elected.

The Austrian constitution defines two types of referendums on the federal level: binding referendums and non-binding referendums. Binding referendums may be mandatory, meaning that they are legally required to take place. Mandatory referendums in Austria include: if the President is removed from office before the end of their term (Article 60, Section 6 of the Federal Constitution), and in the case of a comprehensive change to the Federal Constitution (Article 44, Section 3 of the Federal Constitution).

In Austrian elections, voters select among political parties on their ballot, rather than among competing candidates. The standard way of doing this is by placing an 'x' in the circle next to the name of the party on the paper ballot (Stimmzettel). Voters can also cast preference votes for particular candidates on their favoured party's list, but they may not cross party lines. Any preference votes for candidates of another party are invalid.

Austria's federal president (Bundespraesident) is elected for a six-year term. The election takes place under a two-round system to ensure that the president is supported by a majority of voters. Under this system, a first round of voting is held, and unless one candidate gets a majority, a second round is held where only the two highest-ranking candidates from the first round are included.

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