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

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

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

The table below lists parties represented in the previous Landtag.

Name Ideology Leader 2009 result
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.

Result

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

Constituency ÖVP FPÖ Grüne SPÖ NEOS Others Total
seats
% 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

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