Austrian Elections & Politics - Version 1.0

[Grand Wizard Lizard of the Klan]

I don't know that throat disease called German language and I don't trust Google Translate

[DavidB.]

SPÖ holds Mauthausen, site of the former big Nazi concentration camp.

25% FPÖ (+12%)

Had missed this. Where is MaxQue when we need him?

[Grand Wizard Lizard of the Klan]

Is really fact that somewhere were concentration camp influencing modern politics, or this is just fun-fact? I ask such things seriously - I don't know much about Austrian politics (I don't even know why).

[DavidB.]

Is really fact that somewhere were concentration camp influencing modern politics, or this is just fun-fact? I ask such things seriously - I don't know much about Austrian politics (I don't even know why).

No, it clearly doesn't influence voting patterns. Otherwise the percentage of FPÖ voters would either be way lower (or way higher).

[MaxQue]

SPÖ holds Mauthausen, site of the former big Nazi concentration camp.

25% FPÖ (+12%)

Had missed this. Where is MaxQue when we need him?

What? I don't even remember commnting on Mauthausen. I commented than Austria has issues with its past and failed to do proper denazification, painting themselves as victims (which isn't true nor false, it's just not clear-cut all at, with shades).

Overall, the result is in line with my idea. When in the voting booth, some FPÖ voters decided current land government was good and voted ÖVP.

[palandio]

SPÖ strongholds are:
Ampflwang im Hausruckwald (just Ampflwang already sounds very rural)
Sankt Georgen an der Gusen
Reichraming
Klaus an der Pyhrnbahn (lol)

Where does the FPÖ tradition in the Innviertel come from? Are its origins in the Landbund, similarly to the Bavarian Peasants' League that had its strongholds on the other side of the Inn? Agrarian interests and soft anti-clericalism (as opposed to the Christian Socials)?

And yes, of course the Innviertel was Bavarian until 1779.

According to the ORF, the reason is this (I assume you can read German ?):

You must be logged in to read this quote.

Thank you for the explanation. For those who cannot read German, the quote (by political scientist Sickinger) says something like this:
The Innviertel is a peripheral region of Austria that came to Austria only in 1779 during/after the Bavarian War of Succession. At this time the central statehood of Austria was put over the region from above. That boosted pan-German nationalism in the region until today. Additionally the Innviertel is still not really connected to the central area of Upper Austria by public transport.

(I think that Sickinger's argument is valid, but imho the non-clerical rural interests issue plays a role as well.)

[Tender Branson]

Final statewide result:

36.4% ÖVP (-10.4)
30.4% FPÖ (+15.1)
18.4% SPÖ (-6.6)
10.3% Greens (+1.1)
  3.5% NEOS (+3.5)
  0.8% KPÖ (+0.2)
  0.4% CPÖ (-0.1)

Turnout: 81.6% (+1.3)

Map:



Map (party strengths and turnout by town):

http://orf.at/wahl/ooe15/#analysis

[Tender Branson]

Best/worst results by party:

ÖVP

68% Kaltenberg
22% Lenzing

FPÖ

57% St. Georgen am Fillmannsbach
16% Hallstatt

SPÖ

40% Obertraun
  2% St. Radegund

Greens

23% Ottensheim
  2% Rosenau am Hengstpass

NEOS

  9% Windhaag bei Perg
  1% St. Georgen am Fillmannsbach

KPÖ

  3% Obertraun
  0% in various towns

CPÖ

  3% Windhaag bei Perg
  0% in various towns

Turnout

97% Nebelberg
69% Mondsee

[Swedish Rainbow Capitalist Cheese]

97% Nebelberg
69% Mondsee

It's really impressive turn-out for a regional election, that doesn't take place at the same time as a general election. 

[DavidB.]

SPÖ holds Mauthausen, site of the former big Nazi concentration camp.

25% FPÖ (+12%)

Had missed this. Where is MaxQue when we need him?

What? I don't even remember commnting on Mauthausen. I commented than Austria has issues with its past and failed to do proper denazification, painting themselves as victims (which isn't true nor false, it's just not clear-cut all at, with shades).

Overall, the result is in line with my idea. When in the voting booth, some FPÖ voters decided current land government was good and voted ÖVP.

Actually I meant that you were right. The fact that one in four (!) voters in Mauthausen (!) voted for the FPÖ clearly shows that these people didn't learn much from history, and that more denazification efforts were necessary.

[Grand Wizard Lizard of the Klan]

SPÖ holds Mauthausen, site of the former big Nazi concentration camp.

25% FPÖ (+12%)

Had missed this. Where is MaxQue when we need him?

What? I don't even remember commnting on Mauthausen. I commented than Austria has issues with its past and failed to do proper denazification, painting themselves as victims (which isn't true nor false, it's just not clear-cut all at, with shades).

Overall, the result is in line with my idea. When in the voting booth, some FPÖ voters decided current land government was good and voted ÖVP.

Actually I meant that you were right. The fact that one in four (!) voters in Mauthausen (!) voted for the FPÖ clearly shows that these people didn't learn much from history, and that more denazification efforts were necessary.

How is it?

[DavidB.]

SPÖ holds Mauthausen, site of the former big Nazi concentration camp.

25% FPÖ (+12%)

Had missed this. Where is MaxQue when we need him?

What? I don't even remember commnting on Mauthausen. I commented than Austria has issues with its past and failed to do proper denazification, painting themselves as victims (which isn't true nor false, it's just not clear-cut all at, with shades).

Overall, the result is in line with my idea. When in the voting booth, some FPÖ voters decided current land government was good and voted ÖVP.

Actually I meant that you were right. The fact that one in four (!) voters in Mauthausen (!) voted for the FPÖ clearly shows that these people didn't learn much from history, and that more denazification efforts were necessary.

How is it?

What do you mean?

It doesn't really take a rocket scientist to see that the FPÖ clearly campaigns with "winks" toward the nazi past, it uses nazi nostalgia in order to win votes. This I find disgusting. "Die Soziale Heimatpartei" basically says "we are nazis". The slogan "Die Menschen, Das Land, Meine Berufung" is also inspired by a quite well-known German tricolon.

[Grand Wizard Lizard of the Klan]

SPÖ holds Mauthausen, site of the former big Nazi concentration camp.

25% FPÖ (+12%)

Had missed this. Where is MaxQue when we need him?

What? I don't even remember commnting on Mauthausen. I commented than Austria has issues with its past and failed to do proper denazification, painting themselves as victims (which isn't true nor false, it's just not clear-cut all at, with shades).

Overall, the result is in line with my idea. When in the voting booth, some FPÖ voters decided current land government was good and voted ÖVP.

Actually I meant that you were right. The fact that one in four (!) voters in Mauthausen (!) voted for the FPÖ clearly shows that these people didn't learn much from history, and that more denazification efforts were necessary.

How is it?

What do you mean?

It doesn't really take a rocket scientist to see that the FPÖ clearly campaigns with "winks" toward the nazi past, it uses nazi nostalgia in order to win votes. This I find disgusting. "Die Soziale Heimatpartei" basically says "we are nazis". The slogan "Die Menschen, Das Land, Meine Berufung" is also inspired by a quite well-known German tricolon.

But its clearly only cheap way to get additional voters, not real approach and ideas of the party. I am not the fan of FPO: but we must separate political calculations during eletoral campaign from real party views.

[DavidB.]

But its clearly only cheap way to get additional voters, not real approach and ideas of the party. I am not the fan of FPO: but we must separate political calculations during eletoral campaign from real party views.

I am not convinced. I am hardly a "hungry leftist", as you described other people on this forum: I tend to be supportive of various new-right parties across Europe, such as the Danish People's Party and the Swiss People's Party. I totally agree with many well-formulated concerns about the future of a country and preserving the European/Judeo-Christian/whatever you call the identity of a country, but I cannot agree with or support outright racism and incitement to hatred to people. Criticizing Islam is something different than actively campaigning against people, as the FPÖ did ("Heimatliebe statt Marokkaner-Diebe"), and winks toward a nazi past are especially a no-go for me - the anti-Semitism in the FPÖ is also a big problem for me (even though The Greens, for instance, are obviously even worse for Jews, but I'd never support any Green party whereas I could support new-right parties). An FPÖ representative officially hung out with a Jobbik representative on some far-right conference. That's not a "political calculation during an electoral campaign."

[DavidB.]

Question to the Austrian posters: why is the KPÖ so ridiculously strong in the municipal council of Graz?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graz_local_election,_2012

[Sozialliberal]

Question to the Austrian posters: why is the KPÖ so ridiculously strong in the municipal council of Graz?

I'm German, but I think I can answer this question.

A representative survey found that 87 % of the people who voted KPÖ in the 2012 Graz municipal election thought that the housing policies of the party were "very important" or "somewhat important" for their voting decision. Of course, the KPÖ is strongly in favour of public housing, but what really sets them apart from other parties is the (perceived) genuineness with which they tackle housing issues. I think that the best example is the "Tenants' Helpline" ("Mieter-Notruf"), which is operated by the KPÖ Graz.

Here's what the KPÖ Graz says about its helpline:

"The Tenants' Helpline of the KPÖ has been in operation since 1996. We check tenancy agreements and utility bills as well as the legality and the amount of [broker] commissions. We give advice on harrassment by landlords, cancellations, and eviction suits. We help if there are problems with the repayment of security deposits, but also with other issues around the subject of housing."

[Tender Branson]

Interesting results from the weekend election analysis poll (our "exit poll") from SORA for the ORF:

Vote by gender



Vote by age



Vote by gender and age



Vote by broad profession

* (blue-collar) workers
* private sector (white collar) employees
* civil servants/government workers/teachers etc.
* self-employed/business owners
* retired people



Vote by highest completed formal education

* Pflichtschule = no more than mandatory education (9 years)
* Lehre = apprentices (usually young people between 16 and 25)
* BMS = higher vocational schools, with an emphasis on work-related skills
* Matura = high school with a completed diploma so you can study at universities
* Universität = voters with a university degree

[Tender Branson]

The result in Jörg Haider's birth town (yes, he was born in Upper Austria, not Carinthia) is hilarious:

[palandio]

* Pflichtschule = no more than mandatory education (9 years)
* Lehre = apprentices (usually young people between 16 and 25)
* BMS = higher vocational schools, with an emphasis on work-related skills
* Matura = high school with a completed diploma so you can study at universities
* Universität = voters with a university degree

That explanation seems flawed to me.
Lehre in my opinion includes all people that have gone successfully through a Lehre, that is a ca. three-years vocational training.
I would expect Lehre to be the largest group, particularly among the older generations.

(Bad Goisern gave me a big laugh!)

[Tender Branson]

* Pflichtschule = no more than mandatory education (9 years)
* Lehre = apprentices (usually young people between 16 and 25)
* BMS = higher vocational schools, with an emphasis on work-related skills
* Matura = high school with a completed diploma so you can study at universities
* Universität = voters with a university degree

That explanation seems flawed to me.
Lehre in my opinion includes all people that have gone successfully through a Lehre, that is a ca. three-years vocational training.
I would expect Lehre to be the largest group, particularly among the older generations.

(Bad Goisern gave me a big laugh!)

My bad. That's of course true.

[rob in cal]

   The FPO performance among working class voters was quite impressive.  I think the FPO argument that the political elites are importing a new working class to either replace them or at least partially substitute for them is resonating, whether it be true or not.  The 61-2 margin of FPO over Greens among them is pretty resounding.

[Kevinstat]

Final statewide result:

36.4% ÖVP (-10.4), 21 seats (-7), 3 government seats (-2)
30.4% FPÖ (+15.1), 18 seats (+9), 3 government seats (+2)
18.4% SPÖ (-6.6), 11 seats (-3), 2 government seats (n/c)
10.3% Greens (+1.1), 6 seats (+1), 1 government seat (n/c)
  3.5% NEOS (+3.5)
  0.8% KPÖ (+0.2)
  0.4% CPÖ (-0.1)

Thought I'd add the seat count (from http://orf.at/wahl/ooe15/#projection ) and seat changes, as well as my guess at the number of government seats under Proporz (seems pretty clear from the numbers, whether D'Hondt or Sainte-Laguë is used and whether it's based off the vote results or the number of seats, i.e. whether or not your using "rounded" figures in the calculation).

Someone please correct me if I'm wrong.

[DavidB.]

Question to the Austrian posters: why is the KPÖ so ridiculously strong in the municipal council of Graz?

I'm German, but I think I can answer this question.

A representative survey found that 87 % of the people who voted KPÖ in the 2012 Graz municipal election thought that the housing policies of the party were "very important" or "somewhat important" for their voting decision. Of course, the KPÖ is strongly in favour of public housing, but what really sets them apart from other parties is the (perceived) genuineness with which they tackle housing issues. I think that the best example is the "Tenants' Helpline" ("Mieter-Notruf"), which is operated by the KPÖ Graz.

Here's what the KPÖ Graz says about its helpline:

"The Tenants' Helpline of the KPÖ has been in operation since 1996. We check tenancy agreements and utility bills as well as the legality and the amount of [broker] commissions. We give advice on harrassment by landlords, cancellations, and eviction suits. We help if there are problems with the repayment of security deposits, but also with other issues around the subject of housing."

Thanks Seems like a nice thing to do for the KPÖ, and a good way to gain support.

[Intell]

But its clearly only cheap way to get additional voters, not real approach and ideas of the party. I am not the fan of FPO: but we must separate political calculations during eletoral campaign from real party views.

I am not convinced. I am hardly a "hungry leftist", as you described other people on this forum: I tend to be supportive of various new-right parties across Europe, such as the Danish People's Party and the Swiss People's Party. I totally agree with many well-formulated concerns about the future of a country and preserving the European/Judeo-Christian/whatever you call the identity of a country, but I cannot agree with or support outright racism and incitement to hatred to people. Criticizing Islam is something different than actively campaigning against people, as the FPÖ did ("Heimatliebe statt Marokkaner-Diebe"), and winks toward a nazi past are especially a no-go for me - the anti-Semitism in the FPÖ is also a big problem for me (even though The Greens, for instance, are obviously even worse for Jews, but I'd never support any Green party whereas I could support new-right parties). An FPÖ representative officially hung out with a Jobbik representative on some far-right conference. That's not a "political calculation during an electoral campaign."

Racism against Muslims and other middle-eastern and sometimes eastern-European immigrants is fine, but Jews, noooooo. Whenever they say something racist against a Jew is fine, but against other immigrants, it's alright.

[DavidB.]

But its clearly only cheap way to get additional voters, not real approach and ideas of the party. I am not the fan of FPO: but we must separate political calculations during eletoral campaign from real party views.

I am not convinced. I am hardly a "hungry leftist", as you described other people on this forum: I tend to be supportive of various new-right parties across Europe, such as the Danish People's Party and the Swiss People's Party. I totally agree with many well-formulated concerns about the future of a country and preserving the European/Judeo-Christian/whatever you call the identity of a country, but I cannot agree with or support outright racism and incitement to hatred to people. Criticizing Islam is something different than actively campaigning against people, as the FPÖ did ("Heimatliebe statt Marokkaner-Diebe"), and winks toward a nazi past are especially a no-go for me - the anti-Semitism in the FPÖ is also a big problem for me (even though The Greens, for instance, are obviously even worse for Jews, but I'd never support any Green party whereas I could support new-right parties). An FPÖ representative officially hung out with a Jobbik representative on some far-right conference. That's not a "political calculation during an electoral campaign."

Racism against Muslims and other middle-eastern and sometimes eastern-European immigrants is fine, but Jews, noooooo. Whenever they say something racist against a Jew is fine, but against other immigrants, it's alright.

Firstly, I don't think you're saying what you intended to say. Secondly, how do you derive this conclusion from my post? I even said that I consider the slogan "Heimatliebe statt Marokkaner-Diebe" distasteful and inappropriate. Thirdly, Jews are Middle Eastern too... Fourthly, I'll admit that I care about discrimination against Jews more than about discrimination against other people (which does not mean I don't care about that) - just as the left (and most other minority groups) care more about discrimination against other people than against Jews. Fifthly, discrimination against Eastern Europeans solely stems from "they took our jobs!1!1!!" sentiments, which are by definition stupid.