There will already be new rules for domestic elections next year: as the parties unanimously decided on Tuesday in the National Council with an amendment to the electoral law, you can celebrate a kind of early election day in the future – but the end result must also be faster in the future.
From 2024 on election days you will know almost exactly how the vote went in the evening. All absentee ballots received on the Friday afternoon before the election will be counted on Sunday.
With the signature of the mobile phone you will also be able to look at the electoral register in the future and find out whether you are represented there. The mail envelope can be tracked via QR code. Under pressure from the FPÖ, it has been changed that sealed absentee ballots cannot be declared invalid.
Significantly reduced waiting time for results
Especially in federal elections, you often had to wait up to three days because of the late counting of votes by mail, until it is clear who won how many mandates and also depended on estimates. This is now counteracted by the fact that all absentee ballots received before 5pm on the Friday before the election are counted together with the votes remaining in the district on election day. Only those arriving later will not be assessed until Monday.
In the future, remuneration for election officials throughout Austria will be uniform and stable in value and will be between EUR 33 and EUR 100, depending on the length of opening hours of the respective polling station. The current obligation to keep the registration offices for referenda open for at least two hours on Saturdays should be abolished.
Hofburg ballot papers will no longer be pre-printed
There is also an innovation specific to the Hofburg elections: in presidential elections you no longer have pre-printed papers available for the second round, but you have to write the name of the candidate in question or the assigned number yourself.
Only from 1 January 2028, each polling station must have barrier-free access and a correspondingly furnished voting booth. Until then, there must be at least one barrier-free polling station at each location. The remaining provisions in the legislative package will apply as early as 2024, ie they will probably enter into force for the first time at the EU elections.
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.
