The Vorarlberg state election of 2024 was held in the Austrian state of Vorarlberg on 13 October 2024.
Background In the 2019 state election, the ÖVP was the strongest party with 43.5% of the vote, but fell short of the absolute mandate majority. With 18.9%, the Greens achieved their best election result to date in a Vorarlberg state election and became the second strongest party for the first time. The FPÖ was the only party to suffer losses and fell to third place with 13.9%. The SPÖ was able to recover minimally, reaching 9.5%, while NEOS obtained 8.5% of the vote. The small parties "Home to all Cultures" (HAK) and "Xi – Future Opportunity" were able to obtain results above 1%, but ultimately failed to reach the 5% threshold to enter parliament.
The ÖVP decided to continue the previous coalition with the Greens after negotiations that lasted less than two weeks. In the constituent session of the Landtag on 13 October 2019, the state government under Governor Markus Wallner (ÖVP) was sworn in.
Contesting parties
Parties already in the Landtag No.LogoNameShortformLeader1Governor Markus Wallner – Vorarlberg People's PartyVPMarkus Wallner2The Greens – The Green Alternative VorarlbergGRÜNE3List Christof Bitschi – Freedom Party VorarlbergFPÖ4Mario Leiter – Social Democratic Party VorarlbergSPÖ5NEOS – The New VorarlbergNEOSClaudia Gamon
Parties not in the Landtag For a party to contest in the election, they have to enter at least on list in one of the four districts of Vorarlberg. To be able to do so, they need 100 validated signatures per district. The deadline for entering was 23 August 2024 at 5pm CEST.
The following parties have fulfilled the requirements and will appear on the ballot: No.LogoNameShortformLeaderIdeology6Xi – HaK – G!LTElectoral alliance between , and My Vote Counts!XChris AlgeBig tent Environmentalism (Xi) Multiculturalism (HaK) Anti-establishment (G!LT)7We - Platform for Families and Child protectionWIRChristoph AltonFamilialismSocial conservatism8Communist Party of AustriaKPÖSascha KulasevicCommunismSocialism9The other VorarlbergANDRSBernhard AmannEco-socialism
Non-contesting parties A participation of the following parties have been speculated, yet they declined and did not enter the election:
BIER Partei (Beer Party) MFG Austria – People Freedom Fundamental Rights Der Wandel (The Change)
Opinion polling Polling firm Fieldwork date Samplesize ÖVP Grüne FPÖ SPÖ NEOS Others Lead 2024 state election 13 Oct 2024 –38.312.328.09.18.83.2 10.2 Spectra/VN UN Sunday question: Wallner feels Bitschi's breath on the back of his neck. 6 September 2024, retrieved 6 September 2024. 14–29 Aug 2024 501 31182812102 3 Peter Hajek/NEOS Vorarlberg Dec 2023 – 30142912103 1 Berndt/FPÖ Vorarlberg Nov 2023 702 33132713105 6 Berndt/FPÖ Vorarlberg 17 Oct–3 Nov 2022 503 291420131212 9 Gallup/VN 21 May 2022 500 321517121113 15Gallup/VN 23 Mar–10 Apr 2022 500 361416121111 20 Berndt/VN 12–15 Oct 2021 503 36151691014 20 2019 state election 13 Oct 2019 – 43.5 18.9 13.9 9.5 8.5 5.7 17.8
Result Party Votes % +/− Seats +/− Austrian People's Party (ÖVP) 70,638 38.3 –5.2 15 –2 Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ) 51,639 28.0 +14.1 11 +6 The Greens – The Green Alternative (GRÜNE) 22,926 12.4–6.5 4 –3 Social Democratic Party of Austria (SPÖ) 16,713 9.1 –0.43 –1 NEOS – The New Austria (NEOS) 16,477 8.9 +0.4 3 ±0 Xi – HaK – G!LT (X) 2,249 1.2 New0 New WIR – Platform for Families and Child Protection (WIR) 1,459 0.8 +0.1 0 ±0 Communist Party of Austria (KPÖ) 1.385 0.8 New0 New The other Vorarlberg (ANDRS) 934 0.5 New 0 New Invalid/blank votes 762 0.4 – – – Total 185,182100 – 36 0 Registered voters/turnout 271,882 68.1 +6.7 – –Source: Vorarlberg Government
Results by constituency Constituency ÖVP FPÖ GRÜNE SPÖ NEOS Others Totalseats % % % % % % Bludenz 41.8 29.8 8.5 10.4 7.2 2.2 Bregenz 40.6 26.1 12.2 8.6 9.2 3.1 Dornbirn 32.2 29.9 14.4 9.9 9.7 4.0 Feldkirch 37.9 27.8 13.7 8.2 9.1 3.5 Remaining seats Total 38.3 15 28.0 11 12.4 4 9.1 3 8.9 3 3.3 36 Source: Vorarlberg Government
Aftermath Government formation On 16 October, Governor Wallner (ÖVP) announced exploration talks with the FPÖ. He wanted quick coalition talks – with a conclusion in early November – so that the new ÖVP-FPÖ government could be sworn in when the new Landtag convened on 6 November.
The ÖVP and FPÖ formed a governing coalition, which was sworn in on 6 November. Wallner was sworn in as governor on 11 November.
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