Significant differences – EU elections: This is how the elections took place in your area

FPÖ top candidate Harald Vilimsky can be happy, he has achieved a historic result for the Freedom Party. The Blues have never managed to win the most votes in federal elections. However, the right-wing parties did not expect the small gap.

Surveys showed that the FPÖ was consistently around 30 percent before election Sunday. Now it is clear: these figures were not reliable. As things stand, we are only 0.7 percent ahead of the hard-hit ÖVP, which has lost almost ten percentage points compared to 2019. So where the new blue voters came from is not really a mystery.

ÖVP loses voters to the Freedom Party
Of the 1.3 million turquoise voters in 2019, about 221,000 chose blue this time. The FPÖ was also able to score points among non-voters, from whom it received around 100,000 votes, as shown by ORF/FORESIGHT’s voter flow analysis.

If there is currently a weakness in the FPÖ’s popularity with voters, it is the larger cities. The more inhabitants, the worse the Freedom Party performs. Of the cities with more than 100,000 inhabitants, the FPÖ only exceeded the national average in the smallest, namely Klagenfurt with 27.4 percent, which corresponded to an increase of almost nine percentage points.

The results in detail: In the following image you can see where the new strongholds are and how the vote went in Austria. You can switch between the states and municipalities view.

Vienna – SPÖ with problems
With 18.6 percent, the FPÖ achieved an increase of 4.2 percent in Vienna. Although strong in individual outlying districts, especially in Simmering with 31.2 percent, the Freedom Party has little to say within the belt. The SPÖ has lost half a percentage point and is still well ahead of all other parties. The NEOS managed to achieve an increase of three percent to 13.2 percent.

Upper Austria – Blues catch up with senior partner
With a slightly above-average turnout of 57.3 percent, the Freedom Party became the strongest force in Upper Austria with 28.2 percent, ahead of their senior governing partner ÖVP. A look at the community results shows a map largely split between blue and black. The ÖVP mainly managed to score points in the Mühlviertel, the FPÖ in the Inn and Hausruckviertel, in the Pyhrn region, but also in the central area. The SPÖ won a majority in the statutory cities of Linz and Steyr.

Styria – ÖVP with a bitter defeat
ÖVP (25.5 percent) and SPÖ (20.6 percent) suffered heavy defeats in the Green Mark. ÖVP state governor Christopher Drexler tried to emphasize that it was an EU election and not a state election. The FPÖ (28 percent) has apparently not been harmed at all by the calamities so far – the FPÖ financial affair and investigations against state leaders. She clearly comes first.

Tyrol – Low voter turnout in the Alpine country
In Tyrol, the ÖVP (30 percent) suffered a huge loss in the EU elections, but remained ahead of the FPÖ. The turnout at the European elections was disappointing: 249,790 eligible voters, or 46.17 percent, cast their votes according to the provisional results. This again undermined the 2019 turnout of 53.24 percent, which was already low compared to the federal level and other states.

Vorarlberg – NEOS 82 votes in favor of the Greens
The ÖVP from Vorarlberg lost 8.8 percentage points in the EU elections on Sunday compared to 2019, but the People’s Party clearly remained the strongest force with 26.8 percent of the votes. The FPÖ is in second place with 23 percent (2019: 14.8). The NEOS provisionally took third place with an 82 vote lead over the Greens (both 15.3 percent), the SPÖ only remained in fifth place despite an improvement to 14.4 percent as in 2019 (13.4 percent). .

Burgenland – SPÖ just ahead
The SPÖ Burgenland (29.9 percent) was happy with first place in Burgenland on Sunday evening. A swipe at weakening comrades was inevitable: this also produced the best result for the SPÖ nationally, according to state manager Jasmin Puchwein. The ÖVP (28 percent) suffered heavy losses and finished in second place. But here too the FPÖ (25.2 percent) is on the rise with an increase of 7.6 percent.

Salzburg – ÖVP loses and wins
In the state of Salzburg, the ÖVP suffered losses in the EU elections on Sunday, but clearly retained first place with 29.7 percent. The FPÖ became the second strongest force with 24.6 percent, overtaking the SPÖ, which achieved 20.6 percent on Sunday. With a small loss of 10.4 percent, the Greens defended fourth place, ahead of the NEOS (8.2 percent).

Lower Austria – FPÖ continues to catch up
VP top candidate Reinhold Lopatka called the serious losses “bitter”, but also saw a “good foundation” and the “huge opportunity” to make up for them in the autumn. The losses are especially visible in Lower Austria. The People’s Party relegated the competition to their place, but at the same time lost almost eleven percent. The FPÖ was already the party with the largest number of votes, especially in the east.

Carinthia – Southern Austria deep blue
The 2024 EU elections have turned Austria’s southernmost state, Carinthia, deep blue again. The FPÖ received 33.5 percent of all votes there, which was by far the best result of the Freedom Party in the federal state. An increase of 11.92 percentage points also marked the largest percentage increase in votes for the FPÖ in Carinthia compared to the federal states.