European Parliament election, 2014 (Austria)

European Parliament election in Austria, 2014
Austria
25 May 2014
All 18 Austrian seats to the European Parliament
Turnout 2,909,497 (45.39%)
Decrease 0.58 pp
  First party Second party Third party
 
Leader Othmar Karas Eugen Freund Harald Vilimsky
Party ÖVP SPÖ FPÖ
Alliance EPP PES EAF
Last election 6 seats, 29.98% 5 seats, 23.74% 2 seats, 12,71%
Seats won 5 5 4
Seat change Decrease 1 Steady Increase 2
Popular vote 761,896 680,180 556,835
Percentage 26.98% 24.09% 19.72%
  Fourth party Fifth party
 
Leader Ulrike Lunacek Angelika Mlinar
Party Greens NEOS
Alliance Green ALDE
Last election 2 seats, 9,93% New party
Seats won 3 1
Seat change Increase 1 New party
Popular vote 410,089 229,781
Percentage 14.52% 8.14%

The 2014 European Parliament election was held on 25 May 2014 in Austria. As a result of the Lisbon Treaty Austria held 19 seats in the European Parliament, but with Croatia joining the Union in 2013, Austria's allocation was reduced to 18 seats.

Defections and new parties

Three Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) decided to stand in the election again, but not for their original parties. They are Martin Ehrenhauser (former member of Hans-Peter Martin's List), Ewald Stadler (formerly top candidate for the Alliance for the Future of Austria) and Angelika Werthmann (former member of Hans-Peter Martin's List).

Ehrenhauser is now top candidate for the left-wing electoral alliance "Europe Different" (Europa Anders), which includes the Communists and the Pirate Party.

Stadler founded the eurosceptic "Reform Conservatives" (Die Reformkonservativen, REKOS), who intend to join the Europe of Freedom and Democracy group in European Parliament.[1]

Angelika Werthmann, who was part of the ALDE group between 2012 and 2014, had originally planned to contest the election for NEOS, but in early 2014 she claimed that "the buying of votes" had occurred at the NEOS party caucus for the 2013 national election. She withdrew her NEOS-candidacy for the 2014 European election in January 2014.[2] The Alliance for the Future of Austria (BZÖ) initially planned to field Ulrike Haider-Quercia, daughter of the late party founder Jörg Haider, as their frontrunner. She withdrew on 8 April, complaining that the party would not accept her "independent policy".[3] Instead of her, the BZÖ's new top candidate is Angelika Werthmann. She was also excluded from the liberal ALDE group in the European Parliament after joining the BZÖ.[4]

The new liberal party NEOS (represented in the national parliament since 2013) is contesting the election. Angelika Mlinar was elected as its top candidate after its caucus in February 2014.[5]

Team Stronach, another successful new party in the 2013 national election, announced on 8 April 2014 that they would not contest the election.[6]

On 25 March 2014 MEP Hans-Peter Martin, the leader of Hans-Peter Martin's List, announced that he would no longer be contesting European Elections.[7]

A small party called "EU-STOP" also managed to collect the 2600 signatures necessary to be included on the election ballot. Their main goal is Austria's exit from the EU resulting in a fully neutral and self-determined country, a return to the Austrian Schilling and strict border controls to limit cross-border crime.[8]

Parties contesting the election

There were 9 parties[9] contesting the election. They are ranked here[10] as they appeared on the ballot paper:

Facts and statistics

According to the final figures, a total of 6,410,602 people were eligible to vote in this election, an increase from 6,362,761 people in the 2009 election. 3,322,498 women (2009: 3,314,816) and 3,088,104 men (2009: 3,047,945) were eligible to vote. Included in these totals are 34,773 Austrians living abroad and 33,184 foreign EU-citizens living in Austria.[11]

Poll opening and closing times on election day were set individually by each municipality. Poll closing times can be no later than 5pm.

Voters who so chose were allowed to cast their vote either by absentee ballot or postal ballot. Postal ballots had to arrive at the district voting commission no later than 5pm on election day. Before the 2009 election, 309,200 voters requested absentee or postal ballots. For the 2014 election, the number was 444,057.[12][13]

Opinion polls

Date Polling Firm ÖVP SPÖ FPÖ Grüne BZÖ NEOS REKOS ANDERS EU-STOP Others Lead
17 May 2014 Unique Research 26 25 20 13 - 10 - - - 6 1
15 May 2014 Gallup 23 24 21 12.5 1.5 13 1 2.5 - - 1
15 May 2014 Peter Hajek POS 26 25 20 12 1 11 1 3 - 1 1
14 May 2014 Market 22 23 21 16 1 14 - 1 - 1 1
11 May 2014 OGM 25 26 20 13 - 11 - - - 5 1
10 May 2014 Gallup 24 24 20 13 2 12 1 3 - 1 -
9 May 2014 Unique Research 25 24 20 12 1 13 2 3 0 - 1
8 May 2014 meinungsraum.at 24 23 21 12 1.5 14 1.5 1.5 1.5 - 1
1 May 2014 Gallup 24 24 19 13 1 14 1 3 - 1 -
27 April 2014 Gallup 23 24 20 13 1 13 1 2 - 3 1
12 April 2014 Unique Research 26 24 18 13 - 14 - - - 5 2
10 April 2014 Gallup 24 24 19 13 1 13 2 2 - 2 -
4 April 2014 Unique Research 26 23 19 12 2 14 1 1 - 2 3

Results

 Summary of the results of Austria's 25 May 2014 election to the European Parliament
← 2009 • 2014 • 2019 →
Party Euro party Euro group Main Candidate Votes % +/– Seats +/–
Austrian People's Party (ÖVP) EPP EPP Othmar Karas 761,896 26.98 3.00 Decrease
5 / 18
 1 Decrease
Social Democratic Party (SPÖ) PES S&D Eugen Freud 680,180 24.09 0.35 Increase
5 / 18
 0 Steady
Freedom Party (FPÖ) EAF None Harald Vilimsky 556,835 19.72 7.01 Increase
4 / 18
 2 Increase
The Greens – The Green Alternative (GRÜNE) EGP G-EFA Ulrike Lunacek 410,089 14.52 4.59 Increase
3 / 18
 1 Increase
NEOS – The New Austria (NEOS) ALDE ALDE Angelika Mlinar 229,781 8.14 new
1 / 18
 1 Increase
EU-STOP (EUSTOP) None None Robert Marschall 77,897 2.76 new
0 / 18
 0 Steady
Europe Different (ANDERS) PPEU EUL-NGL Martin Ehrenhauser 60,451 2.14 new
0 / 18
 0 Steady
PEL
The Reform Conservatives (REKOS) MELD EFDD Ewald Stadler 33,224 1.18 new
0 / 18
 0 Steady
Alliance for the Future of Austria (BZÖ) None None Angelika Werthmann 13,208 0.47 4.11 Decrease
0 / 18
 1 Decrease
Valid votes 2,823,561 97.05
Blank and invalid votes 85,936 2.95
Totals 2,909,497 100.00 —
18 / 18
 1 Increase
Electorate (eligible voters) and voter turnout 6,410,602 45.39 0.58 Decrease
Source: Austrian Federal Ministry of the Interior

References

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