When the National Council is re-elected on September 29 (see video above for the current ‘Krone’ survey), almost one in five Austrians will not be able to actively participate. This is a new high.
About 6.3 million people are eligible to vote, compared to almost 1.5 million eligible residents who cannot vote because they do not have Austrian citizenship. This corresponds to 19 percent of the population aged 16 and over.
The number of eligible voters is actually decreasing
According to an analysis by the APA based on data from Statistics Austria, in 2002 the share of people of voting age (then 18 years old) who were not entitled to vote was still nine percent. At that time, on January 1, 560,000 of the total 6.4 million eligible residents were not entitled to vote. In the 22 years since then, the number of residents who are not entitled to vote has grown continuously and significantly faster than the number of eligible voters, which has even declined recently.
In the EU elections in June, the number of eligible voters was slightly higher, as EU citizens from other Member States living in Austria were also allowed to participate. They could decide whether they wanted to elect EU representatives from their country of origin or from Austria. 45,160 people took advantage of the opportunity to vote in Austria by registering in time in the European electoral register.
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.
