After counting all the voting cards, it is clear: Governor Johanna Mikl-Leitner and FPÖ top candidate Udo Landbauer managed to book the most preferential votes in the state elections in Lower Austria. 148,119 personal crosses mean that Mikl-Leitner is in first place, well ahead of Landbauer, who scored 97,731. At the bottom of the table was Franz Schnabl, who has since resigned as head of the SPÖ, with only 24,201 preferential votes.
In addition to the preference votes, the absentee voting cards cast in foreign constituencies were also added up to and including Tuesday. According to a spokesman for the election authority, these were only 500 of the 146,309 ballots requested. In 2018 there were 760.
The official final result will be announced next Monday after the closing meeting of the Electoral Council. This marks the beginning of the period for contesting the elections at the Constitutional Court.
About 1.29 million Lower Austrians had the right to vote on Sunday – the abolition of the right to vote for second residents left a minus of about 97,500 people. Due to the higher turnout, there was hardly any difference in the number of votes cast. This time around 900,000 were valid, compared to over 908,000 five years ago.
Party talks before the start
Now the parties are preparing for the upcoming talks on future cooperation in Austria’s largest federal state. On Wednesday, Mikl-Leitner will therefore meet FPÖ state party leader Landbauer, designated SPÖ state party leader Sven Hergovich and Greens state spokeswoman Helga Krismer. An interview with NEOS top candidate Indra Collini follows. As emphasized in the Governor’s Office, it is about “closing locks”. The actual negotiations should not start until mid-February.
Source: Krone
I am Ida Scott, a journalist and content author with a passion for uncovering the truth. I have been writing professionally for Today Times Live since 2020 and specialize in political news. My career began when I was just 17; I had already developed a knack for research and an eye for detail which made me stand out from my peers.
