After discussion – Nehammer: “No relaxation of voting rights”

More and more people live in our voting booth without voting rights. 1.4 million residents aged 16 or older cannot vote for the next Federal President because they do not have citizenship. 20 years ago there were only 580,000.

Especially in the cities and in the west there are many without a voice in political decisions. According to Statistics Austria, about 30 percent of the voting population in Innsbruck and Salzburg does not have the right to vote, in Vienna the average is also just under a third and in Linz and Graz a quarter.

This sparked a heated debate in the country about whether citizenship is too easy or too hard to obtain. ÖVP’s party line is clearly against change. After Secretary-General Sachslehner, who defended the rules in force, the Turkish party leader took the floor when asked by “Krone”.

ÖVP boss also fears foreign influence
“Citizenship is a valuable asset, and the right to vote is linked to it. There will be no relaxation under my chancellorship,’ Karl Nehammer remains steadfast. Anything else would be “a break with a functioning system that has been tried and tested for decades.” And further: “There is no political majority for such a project, and the population does not want it either!”

In addition, Nehammer sees other problems – “such as how to deal with parties that are influenced from abroad and do not share our values”. Anyone who integrates well, speaks the language and contributes to the country has no problem obtaining citizenship and being able to vote.