2014 Vorarlberg state election

State election in Austria

2014 Vorarlberg state election

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| <- 2009 | 21 September 2014 | 2019 ->

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All 36 seats in the Landtag of Vorarlberg
19 seats needed for a majority
Turnout| 171,765 (64.3%)
4.1%
|  | First party  | Second party  | Third party

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|  |  |
Leader  | Markus Wallner | Dieter Egger  | Johannes Rauch
Party  | ÖVP | FPÖ | Greens
Last election  | 20 seats, 50.8%  | 9 seats, 25.1%  | 4 seats, 10.6%
Seats won  | 16  | 9  | 6
Seat change  |  4  |  0  |  2
Popular vote  | 71,205  | 39,892  | 29,193
Percentage  | 41.8%  | 23.4%  | 17.1%
Swing  |  9.0%  |  1.7%  |  6.5%

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| Fourth party  | Fifth party
|  |
Leader  | Michael Ritsch  | Sabine Scheffknecht
Party  | SPÖ | NEOS
Last election  | 3 seats, 10.0%  | Did not exist
Seats won  | 3  | 2
Seat change  |  0  |  2
Popular vote  | 14,948  | 11,742
Percentage  | 8.8%  | 6.9%
Swing  |  1.2%  | New party

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ÖVP (black) and FPÖ (blue) results by municipality. Darker shades indicate a stronger vote share.

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| Governor before election

Markus Wallner
ÖVP

| Elected Governor

Markus Wallner
ÖVP

|

The 2014 Vorarlberg state election was held on 21 September 2014 to elect the members of the Landtag of Vorarlberg.

The Austrian People's Party (ÖVP) suffered substantial losses, and was deprived of its majority in the Landtag. The second-placed Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ) and Social Democratic Party of Austria (SPÖ) retained their position with minor losses. The beneficiaries of the ÖVP's defeat were The Greens, who achieved a breakthrough result of 17.1%, and NEOS – The New Austria, which debuted at 6.9%.[1]

Now lacking a majority, the ÖVP led by Governor Markus Wallner sought a coalition partner. They ultimately formed government with the Greens.[2]

## Background

[edit]

In the 2009 election, the ÖVP saw a small downswing but retained its majority. The FPÖ double its share of the vote and became the second largest party, ahead of the SPÖ.

## Electoral system

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The 36 seats of the Landtag of Vorarlberg are elected via open list proportional representation in a two-step process. The seats are distributed between four multi-member constituencies, corresponding to the districts of Vorarlberg. For parties to receive any representation in the Landtag, they must either win at least one seat in a constituency directly, or clear a 5 percent state-wide electoral threshold. Seats are distributed in constituencies according to the Hagenbach-Bischoff quota, with any remaining seats allocated at the state level, to ensure overall proportionality between a party's vote share and its share of seats.

## Contesting parties

[edit]

The table below lists parties represented in the previous Landtag.

Name  | Ideology  | Leader  | 2009 result

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Votes (%)  | Seats
| ÖVP | Austrian People's Party
Österreichische Volkspartei | Christian democracy | Markus Wallner | 50.8%  |

20 / 36

| FPÖ | Freedom Party of Austria
Freiheitliche Partei Österreichs | Right-wing populism
Euroscepticism | Dieter Egger  | 25.1%  |

9 / 36

| GRÜNE | The Greens – The Green Alternative
Die Grünen – Die Grüne Alternative | Green politics | Johannes Rauch  | 10.6%  |

4 / 36

| SPÖ | Social Democratic Party of Austria
Sozialdemokratische Partei Österreichs | Social democracy | Michael Ritsch  | 10.0%  |

3 / 36

In addition to the parties already represented in the Landtag, five parties collected enough signatures to be placed on the ballot.

* NEOS – The New Austria (NEOS)
* WIR – Platform for Families and Child Protection (WIR)
* Christian Party of Austria (CPÖ)
* Pirate Party of Austria (PIRAT)
* Men's Party (M)

## Result

[edit]

Party  | Votes  | %  | +/−  | Seats  | +/−
| Austrian People's Party (ÖVP)  | 71,205  | 41.79  | –9.00  | 16  | –4
| Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ)  | 39,892  | 23.42  | –1.70  | 9  | ±0
| The Greens – The Green Alternative (GRÜNE)  | 29,193  | 17.14  | +6.56  | 6  | +2
| Social Democratic Party of Austria (SPÖ)  | 14,948  | 8.77  | –1.25  | 3  | ±0
| NEOS – The New Austria (NEOS)  | 11,743  | 6.89  | New  | 2  | New
| WIR – Platform for Families and Child Protection (WIR)  | 1,088  | 0.64  | New  | 0  | New
| Christian Party of Austria (CPÖ)  | 833  | 0.49  | New  | 0  | New
| Pirate Party of Austria (PIRAT)  | 795  | 0.47  | +0.47  | 0  | ±0
| Men's Party (M)  | 672  | 0.39  | New  | 0  | New
Invalid/blank votes  | 1,396  | –  | –  | –  | –
Total | 171,765 | 100 | – | 36 | 0
Registered voters/turnout  | 267,104  | 64.31  | –4.13  | –  | –
Source: Vorarlberg Government

| Popular vote

|  |
ÖVP |

| 41.79%
FPÖ |

| 23.42%
GRÜNE |

| 17.14%
SPÖ |

| 8.77%
NEOS |

| 6.89%
Other |

| 1.99%

| Landtag seats

|  |
ÖVP |

| 44.44%
FPÖ |

| 25.00%
GRÜNE |

| 16.67%
SPÖ |

| 8.33%
NEOS |

| 5.56%

### Results by constituency

[edit]

Constituency  | ÖVP | FPÖ | Grüne | SPÖ | NEOS | Others  | Total
seats

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|  |  |  |
% | S | % | S | % | S | % | S | % | S | %
Bludenz | 45.6 | 3 | 22.6 | 1 | 12.0 |  | 11.0 |  | 6.6 |  | 2.3 | 4
Bregenz | 43.9 | 5 | 22.6 | 2 | 16.2 | 2 | 9.0 | 1 | 6.6 |  | 1.7 | 10
Dornbirn | 35.8 | 3 | 27.3 | 2 | 20.2 | 1 | 7.8 |  | 7.1 |  | 1.8 | 6
Feldkirch | 41.3 | 4 | 22.0 | 2 | 19.4 | 2 | 7.8 |  | 8.3 |  | 2.3 | 8
Remaining seats |  | 1 |  | 2 |  | 1 |  | 2 |  | 2 |  | 8
Total | 41.8 | 16 | 23.4 | 9 | 17.1 | 6 | 8.8 | 3 | 6.9 | 2 | 2.0 | 36
Source: Vorarlberg Government

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "Wahlen". Vorarlberg Government.
2. ^ "Vorarlberg: signal for black-green". Nachrichten.at. 23 September 2014.

*[S]: Seats