In Austria, more and more people live without the right to vote. 1.4 million people over the age of 16 will not be able to run in October’s federal presidential election. The reason is that they do not have Austrian citizenship.
20 years ago there were only about 580,000 people who were not allowed to vote. Currently, many non-voters live in cities and in the West. In Vienna, the average is just under a third, with strong regional differences. In Innsbruck and Salzburg, about 30 percent of the voting population is not entitled to vote, in Linz and Graz that is a quarter (as of 1 July 2022).
In addition, there are individual communities that have a high share. These include, for example, Kittsee (Burgenland) and Wolfsthal (Lower Austria), where many Slovak families have settled due to its proximity to Bratislava. In all of Austria, about every sixth person over the age of 16 cannot vote.
No reform in sight
The political scientist Peter Filzmaier can envision a reform, as even people without Austrian citizenship are influenced by the decisions of the political system. The right to vote could also be linked to the place of residence, he says. A certain length of stay must be a condition. “Within the rules of the game, we’re constantly making election decisions, which you can see somehow, and both parties are Democrats,” the political scientist said. He spoke, among other things, about lowering the voting age to 16 years.
However, a reform is currently not considered likely. Federal President Alexander Van der Bellen has already been rejected by the ÖVP and FPÖ for his proposal to facilitate naturalization. In order to avoid emotionalization, discussions should also take place outside the election campaign, Maier believed.
As reported, more than 20 candidates want to run in the federal presidential election on October 9. In addition to Van der Bellen, these include FPÖ candidate Walter Rosenkranz, musician and local politician Dominik Wlazny (aka Marco Pogo), MFG candidate Michael Brunner and former FPÖ/BZÖ politician Gerald Grosz. Attorney and former Krone columnist Tassilo Wallentin will be supported “both ideally and materially” by Magna founder Frank Stronach, as announced recently. 6,000 statements of support are required to participate in the elections.
Source: Krone
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