2005 Burgenland state election

The 2005 Burgenland state election was held on 9 October 2005 to elect the members of the 19th Landtag of Burgenland.

2005 Burgenland state election

9 October 2005

All 36 seats in the Landtag of Burgenland
19 seats needed for a majority
All 7 seats in the state government
Turnout197,127 (83.4%)
1.3%
  First party Second party
 
Leader Hans Niessl Franz Steindl
Party SPÖ ÖVP
Last election 17 seats, 46.5% 13 seats, 35.3%
Seats won 19 13
Seat change 2 0
Popular vote 100,497 70,057
Percentage 52.2% 36.4%
Swing 5.6% 1.1%

  Third party Fourth party
 
Leader Johann Tschürtz Margarethe Krojer
Party FPÖ Greens
Last election 4 seats, 12.6% 2 seats, 5.5%
Seats won 2 2
Seat change 2 0
Popular vote 11,077 10,043
Percentage 5.8% 5.2%
Swing 6.9% 0.3%

Governor before election

Hans Niessl
SPÖ

Elected Governor

Hans Niessl
SPÖ

The governing Social Democratic Party of Austria (SPÖ) won in a landslide, securing an absolute majority for the first time since 1982. This came to the detriment of the Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ), which conversely suffered its worst result since 1982. The Austrian People's Party (ÖVP) stayed level on 13 seats.

The SPÖ could have governed alone thanks to its majority, but chose to renew its coalition with the ÖVP. Niessl was sworn in as Governor for a second term.

Background

Prior to amendments made in 2014, the Burgenland constitution mandated that cabinet positions in the state government (state councillors, German: Landesräten) be allocated between parties proportionally in accordance with the share of votes won by each; this is known as Proporz. As such, the government was a perpetual coalition of all parties that qualified for at least one state councillor.[1]

In the 2000 election, the SPÖ remained the largest party with 17 seats. The Greens entered the Landtag for the first time with two seats, while the ÖVP and FPÖ lost one each. The SPÖ formed a coalition with the ÖVP.

Electoral system

The 36 seats of the Landtag of Burgenland are elected via open list proportional representation in a two-step process. The seats are distributed between seven multi-member constituencies, corresponding to the seven districts of Burgenland (the statutory cities of Eisenstadt and Rust are combined with Eisenstadt-Umgebung District). Apportionment of the seats is based on the results of the most recent census.[2]

For parties to receive any representation in the Landtag, they must either win at least one seat in a constituency directly, or clear a 4 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.[2]

In addition to voting for a political party, voters may cast preferential votes for specific candidates of that party, but are not required to do so. These additional votes do not affect the proportional allocation based on the vote for the party or list, but can change the rank order of candidates on a party's lists at the state and constituency level. Voters may cast one preferential vote at the state level, or three at the constituency level. A voter may not cross party-lines to cast a preference vote for a candidate of another party; such preference votes are invalid.[2]

Contesting parties

Name Ideology Leader 2000 result
Votes (%) Seats Councillors
SPÖ Social Democratic Party of Austria
Sozialdemokratische Partei Österreichs
Social democracy Hans Niessl 46.5%
17 / 36
5 / 8
ÖVP Austrian People's Party
Österreichische Volkspartei
Christian democracy Franz Steindl 35.3%
13 / 36
3 / 8
FPÖ Freedom Party of Austria
Freiheitliche Partei Österreichs
Right-wing populism
Euroscepticism
Johann Tschürtz 12.6%
4 / 36
GRÜNE The Greens – The Green Alternative
Die Grünen – Die Grüne Alternative
Green politics Margarethe Krojer 5.5%
2 / 36

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

  • Austrian Citizens and Business Party (ÖBWP) – on the ballot in all constituencies except Oberpullendorf

Results

Party Votes % +/− Seats +/− Coun. +/−
Social Democratic Party of Austria (SPÖ) 100,497 52.18 +5.63 19 +2 4 –1
Austrian People's Party (ÖVP) 70,057 36.38 +1.05 13 ±0 3 ±0
Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ) 11,077 5.75 –6.88 2 –2 0 ±0
The Greens – The Green Alternative (GRÜNE) 10,043 5.21 –0.28 2 ±0 0 ±0
Austrian Citizens and Business Party (ÖBWP) 916 0.48 New 0 New 0 New
Invalid/blank votes 4,537
Total 197,127 100 36 0 7 –1
Registered voters/turnout 242,218 81.38 –1.34
Source: Burgenland Government
Popular vote
SPÖ
52.18%
ÖVP
36.38%
FPÖ
5.75%
GRÜNE
5.21%
ÖBWP
0.48%
Landtag seats
SPÖ
52.78%
ÖVP
36.11%
FPÖ
5.56%
GRÜNE
5.56%

Results by constituency

Constituency SPÖ ÖVP FPÖ Grüne Other Turnout
% % % % %
Neusiedl55.134.65.14.70.480.5
Eisenstadt49.536.56.27.10.781.8
Mattersburg56.330.37.15.50.881.4
Oberpullendorf51.137.17.24.783.2
Oberwart53.735.85.74.20.680.9
Güssing49.144.43.03.20.482.5
Jennersdorf45.841.14.38.20.578.6
Total52.236.45.85.20.581.4
Source: Vorarlberg Government

References

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