2005 Viennese state election

The 2005 Viennese state election was held on 23 October 2005 to elect the members of the Gemeinderat and Landtag of Vienna.

2005 Viennese state election

23 October 2005

All 100 seats in the Gemeinderat and Landtag of Vienna
51 seats needed for a majority
All 14 seats in the state government
Turnout694,515 (60.8%)
Decrease 5.8%
  First party Second party
 
Leader Michael Häupl Johannes Hahn
Party SPÖ ÖVP
Last election 52 seats, 46.9% 16 seats, 16.4%
Seats won 55 18
Seat change Increase 3 Increase 2
Popular vote 333,611 127,531
Percentage 49.1% 18.8%
Swing Increase 2.2% Increase 2.4%

  Third party Fourth party
 
Leader Maria Vassilakou Heinz-Christian Strache
Party Greens FPÖ
Last election 11 seats, 12.4% 21 seats, 20.2%
Seats won 14 13
Seat change Increase 3 Decrease 8
Popular vote 99,432 100,780
Percentage 14.6% 14.8%
Swing Increase 2.2% Decrease 5.3%

Mayor and Governor before election

Michael Häupl
SPÖ

Elected Mayor and Governor

Michael Häupl
SPÖ

The governing Social Democratic Party of Austria (SPÖ) led by Mayor and Governor Michael Häupl won a landslide victory, increasing its absolute majority by an additional three seats and winning just under half of the vote. The Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ) suffered substantial losses, falling from second to fourth place. The Austrian People's Party (ÖVP) returned to second place for the first time since 1991. The Greens achieved their best-ever result, winning 14.6% of votes and becoming the third largest party in the Gemeinderat and Landtag.

Background

The Viennese constitution mandates that cabinet positions in the city government (city councillors, German: Stadtsräten) be allocated between parties proportionally in accordance with the share of votes won by each; this is known as Proporz. The number of city councillors is voted upon by the Landtag after each election, and may legally vary between nine and fifteen. City councillors are divided into two groups – "senior" councillors, who hold a cabinet portfolio, and "non-executive" councillors who do not. Non-executive councillors may vote in cabinet meetings, but do not otherwise hold any government responsibility. In practice, parties seek to form a coalition which holds a majority in both the Landtag and city government. City councillors bound to the coalition become senior councillors, while the opposition are relegated to non-executive status.

In the 2001 state election, the SPÖ regained the absolute majority it had lost in 1996. The FPÖ suffered substantial losses, but remained the second largest party with 20% of the vote. The Greens also made gains, with the Liberal Forum lost its seats. The SPÖ won nine city councillors and formed government alone.

Electoral system

The 100 seats of the Gemeinderat and Landtag of Vienna are elected via open list proportional representation in a two-step process. The seats are distributed between eighteen multi-member constituencies. 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 Hare quota, with any remaining seats allocated using the D'Hondt method at the state level, to ensure overall proportionality between a party's vote share and its share of seats.[1]

Contesting parties

The table below lists parties represented in the previous Landtag.

Name Ideology Leader 2001 result
Votes (%) Seats Councillors
SPÖ Social Democratic Party of Austria
Sozialdemokratische Partei Österreichs
Social democracy Michael Häupl 46.9%
52 / 100
9 / 15
FPÖ Freedom Party of Austria
Freiheitliche Partei Österreichs
Right-wing populism
Euroscepticism
Heinz-Christian Strache 20.2%
21 / 100
3 / 15
ÖVP Austrian People's Party
Österreichische Volkspartei
Christian democracy Johannes Hahn 16.4%
16 / 100
2 / 15
GRÜNE The Greens – The Green Alternative
Die Grünen – Die Grüne Alternative
Green politics Maria Vassilakou 12.4%
11 / 100
1 / 15

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

Results

Party Votes  % +/− Seats +/− Coun. +/−
Social Democratic Party of Austria (SPÖ) 333,611 49.09 +2.18 55 +3 9 ±0
Austrian People's Party (ÖVP) 127,531 18.77 +2.38 18 +2 2 ±0
The Greens – The Green Alternative (GRÜNE) 99,432 14.63 +2.18 14 +3 2 +1
Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ) 100,780 14.83 –5.33 13 –8 1 –2
Communist Party of Austria (KPÖ) 9,969 1.47 +0.83 0 ±0 0 ±0
Alliance for the Future of Austria (BZÖ) 7,824 1.15 New 0 New 0 New
Vienna Forum (WIF) 294 0.04 New 0 New 0 New
Socialist Left Party (SLP) 124 0.02 +0.01 0 ±0 0 ±0
Invalid/blank votes 14,950
Total 694,515 100 100 0 14 –1
Registered voters/turnout 1,142,126 60.81 –5.77
Source: Viennese Government
Popular vote
SPÖ
49.09%
ÖVP
18.77%
FPÖ
14.83%
GRÜNE
14.63%
Other
2.68%
Gemeinderat and Landtag seats
SPÖ
55.00%
ÖVP
18.00%
GRÜNE
14.00%
FPÖ
13.00%

Results by constituency

Constituency SPÖ ÖVP Grüne FPÖ Others Total
seats
Turnout
 %S  %S  %S  %S  %
Centre37.9325.0223.6210.62.9759.6
Inner West34.0224.8129.329.03.0561.2
Leopoldstadt49.9215.117.8114.13.0359.0
Landstraße43.3221.9119.3112.63.0459.9
Favoriten57.7612.118.119.622.5959.5
Simmering60.8310.67.418.812.4460.0
Meidling52.3316.012.516.52.7359.2
Hietzing36.6134.7115.611.02.1266.5
Penzing45.8221.6115.214.82.6361.9
Rudolfsheim-Fünfhaus51.0213.816.415.92.9255.5
Ottakring51.5315.814.415.82.5359.9
Hernals42.5122.417.714.92.5160.2
Währing32.4133.0122.010.32.2263.1
Döbling38.1133.5114.811.72.0263.7
Brigittenau56.7212.111.716.82.8258.1
Floridsdorf57.8613.119.117.013.1861.4
Donaustadt57.8613.119.9116.412.9961.8
Liesing51.4319.5112.114.512.5564.9
Remaining seats667726
Total49.15518.81814.61414.8132.710060.8
Source: Viennese Government

References

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