2001 Viennese state election

The 2001 Viennese state election was held on 25 March 2001 to elect the members of the Gemeinderat and Landtag of Vienna.

2001 Viennese state election

25 March 2001

All 100 seats in the Gemeinderat and Landtag of Vienna
51 seats needed for a majority
All 15 seats in the state government
Turnout730,162 (66.6%)
1.9%
  First party Second party Third party
 
ÖVP
Leader Michael Häupl Hilmar Kabas Bernhard Görg
Party SPÖ FPÖ ÖVP
Last election 43 seats, 39.2% 29 seats, 27.9% 15 seats, 15.3%
Seats won 52 21 16
Seat change 9 8 1
Popular vote 336,832 144,747 117,683
Percentage 46.9% 20.2% 16.4%
Swing 7.8% 7.8% 1.1%

  Fourth party Fifth party
 
Leader Monika Vana Alexandra Bolena
Party Greens LiF
Last election 7 seats, 7.9% 6 seats, 8.0%
Seats won 11 0
Seat change 4 6
Popular vote 89,395 24,669
Percentage 12.4% 3.4%
Swing 4.5% 4.5%

Mayor and Governor before election

Michael Häupl
SPÖ

Elected Mayor and Governor

Michael Häupl
SPÖ

The election was won by the Social Democratic Party of Austria (SPÖ), who reclaimed the absolute majority in the Gemeinderat and Landtag which they had lost in 1996. This came to the detriment of the Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ), which suffered substantial losses; the Liberal Forum (LIF) also lost all its seats after only one term in the Landtag. The Greens made modest gains, and the Austrian People's Party (ÖVP) saw a slight improvement.

With its majority in both the Landtag and city government recovered, the SPÖ terminated its coalition with the ÖVP and returned to governing alone.

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 1996 state election, the SPÖ lost its absolute majority for the first time in history, falling to 39.2%, by far its worst ever result. The ÖVP and Greens also suffered losses, with the FPÖ made significant gains, and its centrist splinter Liberal Forum debuted at 8%. The SPÖ also fell short of a majority in the city government, winning seven of fourteen councillors. The FPÖ won four, the ÖVP two, and the Greens one. The SPÖ subsequently formed a coalition with the ÖVP.

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 1996 result
Votes (%) Seats Councillors
SPÖ Social Democratic Party of Austria
Sozialdemokratische Partei Österreichs
Social democracy Michael Häupl 39.2%
43 / 100
7 / 14
FPÖ Freedom Party of Austria
Freiheitliche Partei Österreichs
Right-wing populism
Euroscepticism
Hilmar Kabas 27.9%
29 / 100
4 / 14
ÖVP Austrian People's Party
Österreichische Volkspartei
Christian democracy Bernhard Görg 15.3%
15 / 100
2 / 14
GRÜNE The Greens – The Green Alternative
Die Grünen – Die Grüne Alternative
Green politics Monika Vana 7.9%
7 / 100
1 / 14
LIF Liberal Forum
Liberales Forum
Liberalism Alexandra Bolena 8.0%
6 / 100

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

Results

Party Votes % +/− Seats +/− Coun. +/−
Social Democratic Party of Austria (SPÖ) 336,832 46.91 +7.76 52 +9 9 +2
Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ) 144,747 20.16 –7.78 21 –8 3 –1
Austrian People's Party (ÖVP) 117,683 16.39 +1.13 16 +1 2 ±0
The Greens – The Green Alternative (GRÜNE) 89,395 12.45 +4.51 11 +4 1 ±0
Liberal Forum (LIF) 24,669 3.43 –4.52 0 –6 0 ±0
Communist Party of Austria (KPÖ) 4,566 0.64 +0.07 0 ±0 0 ±0
Socialist Left Party (SLP) 100 0.01 New 0 New 0 New
Bill Clinton – Handy Börse Fanclub (BCH) 67 0.01 New 0 New 0 New
Invalid/blank votes 12,103
Total 730,162 100 100 0 15 +1
Registered voters/turnout 1,096,732 66.58 –1.88
Source: Viennese Government
Popular vote
SPÖ
46.91%
FPÖ
20.16%
ÖVP
16.39%
GRÜNE
12.45%
LIF
3.43%
Other
0.66%
Gemeinderat and Landtag seats
SPÖ
52.00%
FPÖ
21.00%
ÖVP
16.00%
GRÜNE
11.00%

Results by constituency

Constituency SPÖ FPÖ ÖVP Grüne LIF Others Total
seats
Turnout
%S %S %S %S %S %
Centre35.5318.5121.1119.514.40.9665.6
Inner West32.0216.5121.7123.915.20.7566.5
Leopoldstadt47.3320.3113.914.513.20.8565.8
Landstraße41.4219.3118.5116.23.90.7465.8
Favoriten59.9622.8210.817.52.40.7965.1
Simmering59.2221.719.86.32.40.6365.7
Meidling49.8221.4114.211.03.10.6364.9
Hietzing35.3118.329.1112.44.50.5271.0
Penzing44.8220.1118.4112.73.60.5467.4
Rudolfsheim-Fünfhaus48.3221.5112.913.63.00.7362.5
Ottakring50.0220.9113.412.12.90.7366.4
Hernals40.7121.219.614.03.90.6166.9
Währing31.1117.728.4117.64.50.7268.4
Döbling37.0218.6127.6112.14.20.4470.5
Brigittenau53.2222.6110.49.93.00.8364.4
Floridsdorf55.6520.5212.018.62.80.6866.6
Donaustadt55.3420.2111.819.03.10.7666.7
Liesing49.2319.5117.0110.63.30.6570.5
Remaining seats745824
Total46.95220.22116.41612.4113.400.610066.6
Source: Viennese Government

References

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