2024 European Parliament election in Austria

2024 European Parliament election in Austria

← 2019 9 June 2024 2029 →
← outgoing members
20 Austrian seats to the European Parliament
Opinion polls
Turnout	56.25% (3.52pp)
First party Second party Third party   Leader Harald Vilimsky Reinhold Lopatka Andreas Schieder Party FPÖ ÖVP SPÖ Alliance PfE EPP S&D Last election 17.20%, 3 seats 34.55%, 7 seats 23.89%, 5 seats Seats won 6 5 5 Seat change 3 2 Popular vote 893,754 864,072 818,287 Percentage 25.36% 24.52% 23.22% Swing 8.16pp 10.03pp 0.67pp   Fourth party Fifth party   Leader Lena Schilling Helmut Brandstätter Party Greens NEOS Alliance Greens–EFA Renew Last election 14.08%, 2 seats 8.44%, 1 seat Seats won 2 2 Seat change 1 Popular vote 390,503 357,214 Percentage 11.08% 10.14% Swing 3.00pp 1.70pp
Results by district and state

The 2024 European Parliament election in Austria was held on 9 June 2024 as part of the 2024 European Parliament election.^[1] This was the seventh European Parliament election held in Austria, and the first to take place after Brexit.

The Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ), by winning the European Parliament election with 25.4%, won its first ever nationwide election in Austria.

The ÖVP was the winner of the previous election in 2019, while the SPÖ came in second and the FPÖ third. Trailing further behind were the Greens and NEOS. Other parties failed to win a seat in the new Parliament.

Compared to the last election, Austria was entitled to two more MEPs in this election: one assigned in 2020 due to the seat redistribution after Brexit, and one assigned in 2023 after a pre-election assessment of the Parliament composition based on the most recent population figures. The additional seat assigned in 2020 went to the Green Party.^[2] The 20 members are elected through semi-open list proportional representation in a single nationwide constituency with seats allocated through the D'Hondt method. The electoral threshold is set at 4%.^[3]

All people who have Austrian citizenship and a main residence in Austria, Austrian citizens without residence in Austria (Austrians abroad) and other Union citizens (if their main residence is in Austria) are entitled to vote in the European elections in Austria. In addition, those eligible to vote must turn 16 years old by election day at the latest and be registered in the voter register/European voter register of an Austrian municipality on the deadline date. The right to stand as a candidate in the European elections is available to all those people who are entitled to vote and have reached the age of 18 on election day.^[1]

The table shows the detailed composition of the Austrian seats at the European Parliament as of early 2024.

According to final numbers, 6,372,204 people were eligible to vote in the election, including 45,764 Austrian citizens with their main residence abroad and 45,161 EU citizens with their main residence in Austria.

Compared to the 2019 election, the total number of eligible voters decreased by 43,973, the number of Austrian citizens with their main residence abroad increased by 1,041 and the number of EU citizens with their main residence in Austria increased by 6,489.

The final number of eligible voters was published on 7 June 2024.^[4]

A total of 958,948 absentee ballots were issued in the run-up to the election, 913,856 of which were issued to eligible voters living in Austria and 45,092 to eligible voters living abroad. Compared to the 2019 election (686,249), a total of 39.74% more absentee ballots were issued. A total of 15.05% of eligible voters applied for an absentee ballot, a record for European elections in Austria (in 2019, this figure was 10.70%).^[5]

Any party which intends to be on the ballot for the election either needs to submit the signature of 1 member of the European Parliament, or 3 members of the Austrian National Council, or 2.600 valid petition signatures of eligible Austrian voters by April 26, 2024 at 5pm at the Austrian Interior Ministry.

The following parties running in the European elections are represented in the National Council and the European Parliament:

The following other parties have announced their candidacy, are currently not represented in the National Council or in the European Parliament, but submitted the necessary amount of petition signatures to be placed on the ballot:^[11]

The following other parties have announced their candidacy, but failed to submit the necessary amount of petition signatures by the end of the deadline:

Projected turnout:

According to the OGM poll for the "Kurier" newspaper (May 7-8, 2024), a total of 66% of those surveyed said they are "certain" to vote. This would represent an increase of more than 6% compared to the 2019 election, which had 59.8% turnout. It would also be the highest turnout since the first EU parliament election in Austria in 1996, when turnout was 67.7%.

Other pollsters like the Lazarsfeld Society or Spectra are estimating turnout at between 52% to 63%.

Official results will be released at 11pm on 9 June 2024, after all polling stations in the EU have closed. Polling stations in Austria already close no later than 5pm, but Italy's polling stations remain open until 11pm, which is why counting in Austria starts at 5pm, but results are withheld until Italy closes.

Projections (5pm):

Foresight/ARGE Wahlen/Hajek for ORF/APA/ATV/Puls24 - Source: [1]:

27.0% FPÖ, 23.5% ÖVP, 23.0% SPÖ, 10.5% Greens, 10.5% NEOS, 3.0% KPÖ, 2.5% DNA

Note: The trend forecast is the result of a joint survey by Foresight/ARGE Wahlen/Hajek on behalf of ORF/APA/ATV/Puls24 among around 3,600 people eligible to vote in the EU elections. The survey was carried out from June 3 to 8. Unlike the projections, the trend forecast is not yet based on results data from the electoral districts and is therefore less accurate. The survey has a margin of error of +/- 2.5%

Lazarsfeld Society for Oe24.at - Source: [2]:

28-30% FPÖ, 22-24% SPÖ, 21-23% ÖVP, 10-12% Greens, 10-12% NEOS, 3% KPÖ, 3% DNA

Note: The Lazarsfeld Society surveyed 1.700 voters on election day, 9 June 2024. The survey has a margin of error of +/- 2.43%

OGM for ServusTV - Source: [3]:

27% FPÖ, 23% SPÖ, 22% ÖVP, 12% NEOS, 11% Greens, 3% KPÖ, 2% DNA

Note: The OGM trend forecast is based on 2,486 interviews conducted from June 4 to 7 and on June 9. The EU sample also includes EU citizens and thus, for the first time, also data on their voting behavior.

Official final results, including all absentee ballots:

Party		Votes	%	Seats	+/–
	Freedom Party of Austria	893,754	25.36	6	+3
	Austrian People's Party	864,072	24.52	5	-2
	Social Democratic Party of Austria	818,287	23.22	5	0
	The Greens – The Green Alternative	390,503	11.08	2	0
	NEOS – The New Austria and Liberal Forum	357,214	10.14	2	+1
	Communist Party of Austria	104,245	2.96	0	0
	Democratic – Neutral – Authentic	95,859	2.72	0	New
Total		3,523,934	100.00	20	+2
Valid votes		3,523,934	98.31
Invalid/blank votes		60,548	1.69
Total votes		3,584,482	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		6,372,204	56.25
Source: Ministry of the Interior (BMI)