In the first 33 years from 1964 to 2017 there were a total of 39 referendum, in the two years 2023 and 2024 there were 33 referenda and there are currently more than 30 initiatives in the introductory phase. The instrument of direct democracy is clearly abused.
The idea of a referendum is that a legislative initiative comes from the people. In the meantime, it has become a survey instrument, the constitutional spokesperson for the ÖVP describes in an interview with the “Krone”. One and the same subject, for example, is placed by one person on two referendum: a question is asked whether it is before and once you are against it. A handful of people would have discovered the referendum as a business model, says Gertl.
For the tax figures, costs are incurred in the millions of
To the background: If you want to set up a referendum, you must first pay a cost contribution of 622 euros and then a printing costs of 2800 euros for the registration of the registration. As soon as the referendum has reached the registration range of 100,000 signatures, you as an initiator will receive the cost contributions in five times! That is currently 17,100 euros, resulting in a net profit of approximately 13,700 per referendum.
In addition, the municipalities will be replaced by the federal government in the costs of federal law. With every registration period there is a fixed rate compensation of 40 cents per voter. This results in tax money more than 2.5 million euros each time, up to three times a year.
Online support has made abuse possible
The problem was caused by a change in the law that has made the electronic support of referenda possible since 2018. The 100,000 Mark is easy to reach. A municipal service provider from LoWower Austria does the same against things with a referendum. This has been signed since Monday. The Manuel Plöchl referendum, who is responsible for referenda in the lower Austrian community of St. Andrä-Wördern in the lower Austrian community of St. Andrä-Wördern. The ÖVP MP and Mayor Carmen Jeitler-Cincelli have already signed the referendum, as announced on its Instagram account.
In any case, the subject is on the table with the Constitutional Convention planned by the government of ÖVP-Spö-Neos. There will also be discussion about a reform for family members between federal and national governments in the case of energy, health and education, as well as the “interaction of representative and direct democracy”. The monastery will be prepared in the fall and is planned to start early 2026.
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.
