2016 Austrian presidential election

none December 2016 Austria state presidential 2010 Austrian presidential election 2010 24 April 2016 (first round)22 May 2016 (annulled second round)4 December 2016 (second round re-run) 2022 Austrian presidential election 2022 68.50% (first round) 72.65% (second round)74.21% (second round re-run) Alexander Van der Bellen 2016 (cropped).jpg Alexander Van der Bellen Independent (Greens) 88B626 2,472,892 53.79% 300px First round results by state 300px Second round results by state 2 President Heinz Fischer Independent Alexander Van der Bellen Independent Norbert Hofer (cropped).jpg Norbert Hofer Freedom Party of Austria 2,124,661 46.21% Presidential elections were held in Austria on 24 April 2016, with a second round run-off on 22 May 2016.http://derstandard.at/2000028904548/Termin-fuer-Wahl-des-Bundespraesidenten-naechste-Woche-fix Wahltermin wird nächste Woche fixiert – Bundespräsident – derStandard.at › Inland Derstandard.at 5 April 2016 However, the results of the second round were annulled and a re-vote took place on 4 December 2016.Klatzer, Jürgen, Daniela Wahl and Peter Temel, "Hofburg-Wahl: Stichwahl auf 4.12. verschoben, Jungwähler kommen in Wählerregister" (in German), kurier.at, 12 September 2016. Incumbent President Heinz Fischer had served two terms and was not eligible to be elected for a third successive term. In the first round of the election, Norbert Hofer of the Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ) received the most votes. Alexander Van der Bellen, an independent candidate who formerly a member of both the Austrian Greens and the Social Democratic, placed second. The candidates of the two governing parties, the Social Democratic and Austrian People's parties, placed fourth and fifth respectively, behind independent Irmgard Griss in third place, which led to a government crisis and the resignation of Chancellor Werner Faymann. Since no candidate received a majority of the vote, Hofer and Van der Bellen went head-to-head in the second round in May. This was the first time since the Second World War that an Austrian president had not been backed by either the People's or the Social Democratic party.https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/apr/24/austrian-far-right-wins-first-round-presidential-election-norbert-hofer Austrian far-right party wins first round of presidential election The Guardian 25 April 2016 25 April 2016 During the run-off, Van der Bellen defeated Hofer on 23 May 2016 after the postal ballots had been counted.Austria far-right 'narrowly loses poll, electing Van der Bellen president' BBC News 23 May 2016 https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-36362505 23 May 2016 On 1 July, the results of the second round of voting were annulled after the results in 20 of the 117 administrative districts were challenged, and the Constitutional Court of Austria found that Austrian electoral law had been disregarded in 14 of them. The Court found that over 77,900 absentee votes were improperly counted too early, though no indication of fraud was found.Oltermann Philip Austrian presidential election result overturned and must be held again https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/jul/01/austrian-presidential-election-result-overturned-and-must-be-held-again-hofer-van-der-bellen 1 July 2016 The Guardian 1 July 2016 The second round re-vote was planned on 2 October, but was postponed to 4 December 2016.https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/sep/12/austria-presidential-election-rerun-to-be-postponed-faulty-glue-ballot-papers Austrian presidential election to be postponed due to faulty glue TheGuardian.com en-GB 5 July 2016 Van der Bellen ultimately won the second round re-vote with 53.8% of the vote and a voter turnout of 74.2%.Österreich, vorläufiges Endergebnis inklusive Briefwahlstimmen. https://web.archive.org/web/20160523155755/http://wahl16.bmi.gv.at/ 23 May 2016 Bundesministerium für Inneres (in German). Retrieved 10 December 2016. Hofer conceded the race to Van der Bellen when the result had become apparent shortly after polls closed.https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/dec/04/far-right-party-concedes-defeat-in-austrian-presidential-election Far-right candidate concedes defeat in Austrian election Oltermann Philip 4 December 2016 The Guardian en-GB 0261-3077 4 December 2016 Van der Bellen was sworn in as the twelfth president of Austria on 26 January 2017.http://www.dw.com/en/van-der-bellen-takes-office-as-austrian-president/a-37282299 Van der Bellen takes office as Austrian president Deutsche Wells 7 Feb 2017 Electoral system The president of Austria is directly elected by universal adult suffrage once every six years. The election is held under a two-round system; if no candidate receives more than 50% of votes cast in the first round, then a second ballot occurs in which only those two candidates who received the greatest number of votes in the first round may stand. The constitution grants the president the power to appoint the chancellor and, by extension, federal cabinet ministers, Supreme Court justices, military officers, and most major bureaucrats. The president may dissolve the National Council. In practice, however, the president acts as a figurehead. Candidates Social Democratic Party (SPÖ) The most likely candidate of the Social Democratic Party was considered to be Labour Minister Rudolf Hundstorfer, though President of the National Council Doris Bures, former Chancellor Franz Vranitzky and former undersecretary for EU affairs Brigitte Ederer de were also mentioned.http://www.oe24.at/oesterreich/politik/Duell-um-die-Hofburg/218771863 Duell um die Hofburg Oe24.at 6 January 2016 5 April 2016http://kurier.at/politik/inland/das-jahr-2016-bringt-neues-spitzenpersonal/172.518.058 Das Jahr 2016 bringt neues Spitzenpersonal Kurier.At 1 January 2016 5 April 2016 On 15 January 2016, Hundstorfer was officially announced as the SPÖ's candidate.http://derstandard.at/2000029105205/SPOe-gibt-Praesidentschaftskandidaten-bekannt SPÖ-Kandidat Hundstorfer betont nötigen Zusammenhalt in Flüchtlingsfrage – Bundespräsident – derStandard.at › Inland Derstandard.at 5 April 2016 50px|center|link=Social Democratic Party of Austria|Social Democratic Party of Austria white Rudolf Hundstorfer center|200x200px Minister of Social Affairs(2008–2016) Austrian People's Party (ÖVP) Justice Minister Wolfgang Brandstetter declined to stand on 26 December 2015.http://www.news.at/a/brandstetter-bundespraesident-wahl-keine-kandidatur Brandstetter tritt nicht an • News.at 5 April 2016 On 7 January 2016, ÖVP leader Reinhold Mitterlehner announced that Erwin Pröll, the Landeshauptmann of Lower Austria, would not be running.http://derstandard.at/2000028654762/Erwin-Proell-tritt-nicht-zur-Praesidentenwahl-2016-an Pröll: "Man muss wissen, wo man hingehört" – Bundespräsident – derStandard.at › Inland Derstandard.at 8 January 2016 5 April 2016 Josef Pühringer, Landeshauptmann of Upper Austria declined to stand on 8 January 2016,July 2016 as did former European Commissioner Franz Fischler and Member of the European Parliament Othmar Karas. President of the Austrian Federal Economic Chamber Christoph Leitl only said he would not comment before the announcement by the party leadership on 10 January 2016.http://diepresse.com/home/politik/innenpolitik/4900219/Wer-wird-OVPKandidat-Wurde-nicht-angerufen Wer wird ÖVP-Kandidat? "Wurde nicht angerufen" " Diepresse.com 30 October 2015 5 April 2016 Controversial former chancellor Wolfgang Schüssel was briefly considered as a candidate, but he also declined.http://kurier.at/politik/inland/hofburg-wahl-auch-schuessel-wurde-als-oevp-kandidat-angefragt/175.257.568 Hofburg-Wahl: Auch Schüssel wurde als ÖVP-Kandidat angefragt Kurier.At 16 January 2016 5 April 2016 Other names mentioned were former Science Minister and university professor Karlheinz Töchterle de, former Foreign Minister Ursula Plassnik and former Raiffeisen Zentralbank manager Christian Konrad de.http://derstandard.at/2000028672230/Die-moeglichen-Kandidaten-fuer-die-Praesidentenwahl Präsidentenwahl: Berichte über Kandidatur von Khol – ÖVP – derStandard.at › Inland Derstandard.at 8 January 2016 5 April 2016http://orf.at/stories/2317888/2317889/ Spekulationen über Kandidatur von Khol – news.ORF.at Orf.at 8 January 2016 5 April 2016Rainer Nowak Thomas Prior Hedi Schneid http://diepresse.com/home/politik/innenpolitik/4900484/Hofburg_Khol-als-Plan-B-nach-ProllAbsage Hofburg: Khol als Plan B nach Pröll-Absage « 9 January 2016 Diepresse.com 5 April 2016 On 10 January 2016, former first president of the National Council Andreas Khol was announced as the ÖVP's candidate.http://derstandard.at/2000028780586/OeVP-Kandidat-Khol-als-Ansage-in-Richtung-FPOe-Waehler Khol ist ÖVP-Kandidat – Bundespräsident – derStandard.at › Inland Derstandard.at 5 April 2016 50px|center|link=Austrian People's Party|Austrian People's Party white Andreas Khol center|200x200px President of the National Council(2002–2006) Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ) Norbert Hofer, who serves as the Third President of the National Council, had been considered the most likely Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ) candidate. On 28 December 2015 he said that he considered himself too young for the office and that he would prefer his party to pick someone else as its candidate.Norbert Hofer (FPÖ) im #zib2 Gespräch zum Jahreswechsel #transkript https://web.archive.org/web/20160126141537/https://neuwal.com/2015/12/28/norbert-hofer-im-zib2-gespraech-zum-jahreswechsel-transkript/ 26 January 2016 Neuwal, 28 December 2015. Other possible candidates included President of the Austrian Court of Audit Josef Moser, former Mayor of Vienna's 1st district Ursula Stenzel,http://www.kleinezeitung.at/s/politik/innenpolitik/4901018/FPOEntscheidung-fur-HofburgKandidaten-noch-vollig-offen FPÖ-Entscheidung für Hofburg-Kandidaten noch "völlig offen" > Kleine Zeitung Kleinezeitung.at 5 April 2016 ombudsman Peter Fichtenbauerhttp://www.nachrichten.at/nachrichten/politik/innenpolitik/Der-lange-Schatten-der-Hofburg-Wahl;art385,1938622 Der lange Schatten der Hofburg-Wahl Nachrichten.at 5 April 2016 and possibly party leader Heinz-Christian Strache himself.http://mobil.derstandard.at/2000028792104/Schwarze-fuerchten-sich-vor-dem-blauen-Mann Gerüchte über Strache-Kandidatur bei Präsidentenwahl – Bundespräsident – derStandard.at › Inland Mobil.derstandard.at 4 March 2000 5 April 2016 As of 11 January 2016, Fichtenbauer, Moser and Stenzel continued to be the most likely candidates.http://derstandard.at/2000028837158/Hofer-Strache-als-blauer-Hofburg-Kandidat-unwahrscheinlich Hofer: Strache als blauer Hofburg-Kandidat "unwahrscheinlich" – Bundespräsident – derStandard.at › Inland Derstandard.at 5 April 2016 Strache announced on 13 January 2016 that he would not be running himself, and that it was still open whether the FPÖ would nominate anyone at all.http://www.nachrichten.at/nachrichten/politik/innenpolitik/Strache-will-nicht-Bundespraesident-werden;art385,2084039 Strache will nicht Bundespräsident werden Nachrichten.at 5 April 2016 In mid-January, Vienna Vice-Mayor Johann Gudenus and former FPÖ leader and former Vice-Chancellor Norbert Steger were also mentioned as possible candidates.http://www.oe24.at/oesterreich/politik/Gudenus-und-Stenzel-als-FPOe-Favoriten/220275335 Gudenus und Stenzel als FPÖ-Favoriten Oe24.at 17 January 2016 5 April 2016 On 19 January 2016, author and Middle East/migration pundit Karin Kneissl was mentioned as being recruited by the FPÖ to run,http://www.heute.at/news/politik/art23660,1251207 "Anfrage von der FPÖ": Hofburg-Wahl: Nahost-Expertin Kneissl lehnt Angebot ab Heute.at 5 April 2016 September 2026 InternetArchiveBot which she quickly declined.http://www.kkneissl.com/de AKTUELLES – Deutsch de Kkneissl.com 5 April 2016 On 20 January 2016, media reported that Gudenus had been internally selected as the FPÖ's candidate;http://www.oe24.at/oesterreich/politik/Hofburg-FPOe-setzt-voll-auf-Gudenus/220701618 Hofburg: FPÖ setzt voll auf Gudenus Oe24.at 20 January 2016 5 April 2016 on 26 January 2016, reports claimed Stenzel would be announced on 28 January 2016 as the FPÖ's candidate.http://www.trend.at/politik/stenzel-fpoe-kandidatin-bundespraesidentenwahl-6206905 Stenzel als FPÖ-Kandidatin für Bundespräsidentenwahl praktisch fix Trend.at 26 January 2016 5 April 2016 30 March 2016 https://web.archive.org/web/20160330183920/http://www.trend.at/politik/stenzel-fpoe-kandidatin-bundespraesidentenwahl-6206905 dead Amid strong FPÖ-internal dissent, there were rumours the party leadership had been forced to reconsider, and that Hofer was now the most likely option, after all,http://kurier.at/politik/inland/nun-schlittert-auch-fpoe-in-hofburg-chaos-stenzel-durch-shitstorm-verhindert/177.512.736 Basis-Aufstand gegen Straches Hofburg-Kandidatin Stenzel Kurier.At 27 January 2016 5 April 2016 with Gudenus also still in play.http://www.tt.com/politik/11050726-91/blauer-spannungsbogen-entlang-der-hofburg-wahl.csp Blauer Spannungsbogen entlang der Hofburg-Wahl | Tiroler Tageszeitung Online – Nachrichten von jetzt! Tt.com 5 April 2016 Commentators opined that the backtracking was a notable defeat for Strache.http://kurier.at/politik/inland/strache-verliert-schon-die-vorwahl-fuer-die-hofburg/177.644.586 Strache verliert schon die Vorwahl für die Hofburg Kurier.At 28 January 2016 5 April 2016Von Ulrike Weiser Thomas Prior http://diepresse.com/home/politik/innenpolitik/4913437/Praesidentenwahl-treibt-tiefen-Keil-in-die-FPO Präsidentenwahl treibt tiefen Keil in die FPÖ 28 January 2016 Diepresse.com 5 April 2016 Hofer was announced as the FPÖ's candidate on 28 January 2016.http://derstandard.at/2000029915296/FPOe-praesentiert-um-11-Uhr-ihren-Hofburgkandidaten Kein Fairnessabkommen mit Norbert Hofer – Bundespräsident – derStandard.at › Inland Derstandard.at 5 April 2016 100px|center|link=Freedom Party of Austria|Freedom Party of Austria white Norbert Hofer center|200x200px Third President of the National Council(2013–2017) Alexander Van der Bellen (Independent) In early January 2016, it was announced that former Greens party leader and former Social Democratic party member Alexander Van der Bellen would run as an independent candidate.http://orf.at/stories/2317681/ Bundespräsident: Van der Bellen nicht grüner Parteikandidat – news.ORF.at Orf.at 7 January 2016 5 April 2016 Van der Bellen announced his candidacy on 8 January 2016.http://diepresse.com/home/politik/innenpolitik/4900153/Van-der-Bellen-tritt-bei-BundespraesidentenWahl-an- Bundespräsidenten-Wahl: Van der Bellen tritt an « 8 January 2016 Diepresse.com 5 April 2016 Van der Bellen suspended his party membership of Greens before the election to demonstrate his independence. In spite of this, the Greens continued to be a leading supporter of Van der Bellen's campaign. The NEOS – The New Austria and Liberal Forum leader Strolz stated that they would consider giving him the same support as Griss, depending on the same kind of hearing she went through.Iris Bonavida http://diepresse.com/home/politik/innenpolitik/4900716/Neos_Grosse-Sympathien-fur-Van-der-Bellen Neos: "Große Sympathien" für Van der Bellen « 8 January 2016 Diepresse.com 5 April 2016 60px|center|link=The Greens – The Green Alternative|Greens white Alexander Van der Bellen center|200x200px Spokesperson of the Green Party(1997–2008) Other candidates Independent candidate Irmgard Griss, a former Supreme Court of Justice judge and its president, declared her candidacy on 17 December 2015. She presented her candidacy to the Freedom Party of Austria and NEOS, but both declined to endorse her.100.000 Euro: Erste Großspende für Griss' Kampagne Der Standard, 18 December 2015 de NEOS said they would support Griss and any other independent candidates indirectly, and voiced their concerns over the strong partisan politicization of the presidential office and the election campaign.NEOS begrüßen Griss Kandidatur zur Bundespräsidentin “außerordentlich” Vienna Online, 18 December 2015 NEOS leader Matthias Strolz stated on 9 February 2016 that NEOS might also support Van der Bellen, voicing his preference for a run-off election between Griss and Van der Bellen.http://www.nachrichten.at/nachrichten/politik/innenpolitik/Neos-wollen-Griss-und-Van-der-Bellen-unterstuetzen;art385,2118162 Neos wollen Griss und Van der Bellen unterstützen Nachrichten.at 2 January 2015 5 April 2016 Richard Lugner, society figure, businessman and candidate for president in 1998, was reported to be considering running again,http://orf.at/stories/2316164/2316163/ Politjahr im Zeichen der Hofburg-Wahl – news.ORF.at Orf.at 2 January 2016 5 April 2016 and stated on 8 February 2016 that he would very likely be running.http://www.ots.at/presseaussendung/OTS_20160208_OTS0163/lugner-in-oesterreich-trete-vermutlich-an Lugner in ÖSTERREICH: "Trete vermutlich an" | Mediengruppe "Österreich" GmbH, 08.02.2016 de Ots.at 5 April 2016 He announced his candidacy on 10 February 2016, citing a poll carried out for him by the Humaninstitut which showed him on 10% (behind Van der Bellen on 27%, Hundstorfer on 18%, Hofer on 17%, Griss at 15% and Khol on 13%).http://diepresse.com/home/politik/innenpolitik/4922748/ Hofburg-Wahl: Lugner tritt an « 10 February 2016 Diepresse.com 5 April 2016 Martin Wabl, who had attempted to run in 1998, 2004 and 2010, but failed to gather the necessary number of signatures of support, said he would try to run again.http://derstandard.at/2000020654780/Martin-Wabl-will-fuer-Bundespraesidentenwahl-kandidieren Martin Wabl will bei Bundespräsidentenwahl kandidieren – Inland – derStandard.at › Inland Derstandard.at 13 August 2015 5 April 2016 Ulrich Habsburg-Lothringen, whose initiative to repeal the so-called Habsburg Paragraph, which had precluded members of the former ruling house from running for president, proved successful in 2011, stated he would like to run for president, but only if a political party decided to support him.Von Regina Essl http://diepresse.com/home/politik/innenpolitik/4891911/Habsburg-fur-Griss-wenn-er-nicht-selbst-antritt Habsburg für Griss – wenn er nicht selbst antritt Diepresse 22 December 2015 5 April 2016 Adrien Jean-Pierre Luxemburg-Wellenstein announced on 8 December 2015 he would run for president.http://orf.at/stories/2316164/2316163/ Politjahr im Zeichen der Hofburg-Wahl – news.ORF.at Orf.at 2 January 2016 5 April 2016 Author El Awadalla de announced her run on 12 January 2016.von Dieter Zirnig https://neuwal.com/2016/01/12/neue-kandidatin-el-awadalla-bestaetigt-kandidaturversuch/ Neue Kandidatin: El Awadalla bestätigt Kandidaturversuch Neuwal.com 5 April 2016 4 March 2016 https://web.archive.org/web/20160304091121/https://neuwal.com/2016/01/12/neue-kandidatin-el-awadalla-bestaetigt-kandidaturversuch/ dead Krems activist Franz Stieger announced his candidacy on 13 January 2016.http://www.tips.at/news/krems-an-der-donau/land-leute/335104-stieger-will-bundespraesident-werden Stieger will Bundespräsident werden Tips.at 13 January 2016 5 April 2016 27 January 2016 https://web.archive.org/web/20160127130955/http://www.tips.at/news/krems-an-der-donau/land-leute/335104-stieger-will-bundespraesident-werden dead Further independent candidates who announced their runs were Gustav Jobstmann,von Gustav Jobstmann http://www.jobstmann2016.at/ Gustav Jobstmann Jobstmann2016.at 28 December 2015 5 April 2016 1 July 2022 https://web.archive.org/web/20220701011533/http://www.jobstmann2016.at/ dead Thomas Unden,Unden Thomas http://www.oe24.at/oesterreich/chronik/Asyl-Arzt-will-Bundespraesident-werden/219940076 "Asyl-Arzt" will Bundespräsident werden Oe24.at 15 January 2016 5 April 2016 Gernot Pointner,Gernot Pointner http://www.gernotpointner.at/ Gernot Pointner 2k16 Gernotpointner.at 5 April 2016 https://web.archive.org/web/20160414183451/http://www.gernotpointner.at/ 14 April 2016 dead Alois Merz,http://www.bundespraesidentschaftswahl.at/sonstige-kandidaten-2016.html Bundespräsidentschaftskandidaten 2016: sonstige Kandidaten Bundespraesidentschaftswahl.at 5 April 2016 Georg Zakrajsek of the Interessengemeinschaft Liberales Waffenrecht Österreich,http://www.querschuesse.at/cms/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2428:ich-trete-an&catid=93:politik&Itemid=102 Ich trete an! Querschuesse.at 5 April 2016 31 January 2016 https://web.archive.org/web/20160131001000/http://www.querschuesse.at/cms/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2428:ich-trete-an&catid=93:politik&Itemid=102 dead Karin Kolland,http://karinkolland.at/ karin kolland Initiative Volksparlament – Karin Kolland Karinkolland.at 20 June 2014 5 April 2016 https://web.archive.org/web/20160330020828/http://karinkolland.at/ 30 March 2016 dead Robert Marschall de of the EU Exit Party,Robert Marschall http://www.marschall2016.at/ Robert Marschall, Kandidat der Bundespräsidentenwahl 2016 in Österreich Marschall2016.at 5 April 2016 3 April 2016 https://web.archive.org/web/20160403211435/http://www.marschall2016.at/ dead Thomas Reitmayer of the Austrian version of the satirical political party Die PARTEI,https://die-partei.at/wahl-2016/ WAHL 2016 Die PARTEI Österreich 27 January 2016 dead https://web.archive.org/web/20160202160649/https://die-partei.at/wahl-2016/ 2 February 2016 Erich Körner-Lakatos and Peter Fetz. At the half-way point for collecting signatures, it appeared that only the five major candidates and possibly Lugner and Awadalla had a chance of making the ballot.http://www.nachrichten.at/nachrichten/politik/innenpolitik/Hofburg-Wahl-Noch-kein-Kandidat-fix-zur-Halbzeit;art385%2C2169311 Hofburg-Wahl: Noch kein Kandidat fix zur Halbzeit Nachrichten.at 2 January 2015 5 April 2016 13 March 2016 https://web.archive.org/web/20160313073441/http://www.nachrichten.at/nachrichten/politik/innenpolitik/Hofburg-Wahl-Noch-kein-Kandidat-fix-zur-Halbzeit;art385,2169311 dead Signatures Griss was the first candidate to submit the necessary number of signatures (6,000) at the Interior Ministry, submitting 7,851 on 8 March 2016.http://kurier.at/politik/inland/bundespraesidentenwahl-irmgard-griss-hat-6000-unterstuetzungen-geschafft/185.580.742 Bundespräsidentenwahl: Irmgard Griss hat 6000 Unterstützungen geschafft Kurier.At 8 March 2016 5 April 2016 By 11 March 2016, she had collected over 10,000 signatures.http://orf.at/stories/2329272/ Griss hat 10.000 Unterschriften und peilt jetzt 12.000 an – news.ORF.at Orf.at 11 March 2016 5 April 2016 By 16 March 2016, two days before the deadline, the five main candidates had submitted their signatures, with Awadalla still having outside chances to make it and Lugner likely to fall short.Dieter Zirnig https://neuwal.com/wahlumfragen/unterstutzungserklaerungen-status-bpw16.php neuwal WAHLUMFRAGEN Neuwal.com 5 April 2016 https://web.archive.org/web/20160324214618/https://neuwal.com/wahlumfragen/unterstutzungserklaerungen-status-bpw16.php 24 March 2016 dead Surprising many observers, Marschall announced on 17 March 2016 that he had gathered the required number of signatures,von Dieter Zirnig https://neuwal.com/2016/03/17/robert-marschall-kandidert/ Robert Marschall kandidert? Neuwal.com 5 April 2016 25 March 2016 https://web.archive.org/web/20160325025429/https://neuwal.com/2016/03/17/robert-marschall-kandidert/ dead though it was unclear whether he would be using the grace period of three days to reach the required number; Lugner also submitted his bid, but falling short of the required signatures, promising to submit the remaining number within the grace period. Besides these two, only the five main candidates submitted successful bids.http://www.ots.at/presseaussendung/OTS_20160318_OTS0234/bundespraesidentenwahl-2016-einbringung-der-wahlvorschlaege Bundespräsidentenwahl 2016: Einbringung der Wahlvorschläge | Bundesministerium für Inneres, 18.03.2016 de Ots.at 18 March 2016 5 April 2016 On 19 March 2016, it was announced that the five main candidates had submitted the necessary number of signatures, and that neither Lugner nor Marschall had (so far).http://orf.at/#/stories/2330393/ news.ORF.at 20 March 2016 dead https://web.archive.org/web/20160301051602/http://orf.at/ 1 March 2016 As expected by many analysts, Lugner claimed on 22 March 2016 to have made up the deficit, with Marschall clearly failing,Philipp Aichinger http://diepresse.com/home/politik/bpwahl/4951732/Unterschriften_Auch-Lugner-will-nun-genug-haben Unterschriften: Auch Lugner will nun genug haben « 23 March 2016 Diepresse.com 5 April 2016 having gathered only 1,150 signatures.http://orf.at//stories/2330895/ Hofburg-Wahl: Marschall schaffte nur 1.150 Unterschriften – news.ORF.at Orf.at 23 March 2016 5 April 2016 Voter statistics thumb|right|180px|Official ballot paper for the first round of voting According to the federal election commission, 6,382,507 Austrian citizens aged 16 or over are eligible to vote in the presidential election. Compared with the 2010 presidential election, the number of eligible voters increased by 26,707 – or 0.4% . There are 3,301,628 women and 3,080,879 men eligible to vote. 42,830 Austrians living abroad are also included in these numbers as being eligible to vote.http://www.bmi.gv.at/cms/BMI_wahlen/bundespraes/bpw_2016/Wahlberechtigte.aspx Bundespräsidentenwahl 2016 – Endgültige Zahl der Wahlberechtigten bmi.gv.at 12 April 2016 13 April 2016 In the first round of voting, 641,975 absentee ballots were issued – up from 373,902 in 2010. For the runoff, a record number of 885,437 absentee ballots were issued.http://www.bmi.gv.at/cms/BMI_wahlen/bundespraes/bpw_2016/Wahlkarten.aspx Bundespräsidentenwahl 2016 – Zahl der ausgestellten Wahlkarten bmi.gv.at 22 April 2016 23 April 2016http://www.bmi.gv.at/cms/BMI_wahlen/bundespraes/bpw_2016/Wahlkarten_2WG.aspx Bundespräsidentenwahl 2016 – Zahl der ausgestellten Wahlkarten für den zweiten Wahlgang bmi.gv.at 20 May 2016 21 May 2016 Eligible voters by state: Burgenland: 232,028 Carinthia: 440,435 Lower Austria: 1,283,676 Upper Austria: 1,099,420 Salzburg: 393,583 Styria: 969,487 Tyrol: 540,132 Vorarlberg: 269,940 Vienna: 1,153,806 Opinion polls Opinion polling for the 2016 Austrian presidential election Endorsements Second round candidate endorsements Candidate First round Endorsement Irmgard Griss 18.94% Alexander Van der Bellen2016-07-06 Griss wählte Van der Bellen https://www.kleinezeitung.at/politik/innenpolitik/4990807/HofburgStichwahl_Griss-waehlte-Van-der-Bellen 2025-10-12 Rudolf Hundstorfer 11.28% Alexander Van der Bellen2016-04-24 SPÖ und ÖVP ohne Wahlempfehlung für Stichwahl https://www.wienerzeitung.at/h/spo-und-ovp-ohne-wahlempfehlung-fur-stichwahl 2025-10-12 Andreas Khol 11.12% No endorsement Richard Lugner 2.26% No endorsement2016-04-25 Lugner: Und der Kasperl gewinnt doch nicht https://www.diepresse.com/4974553/lugner-und-der-kasperl-gewinnt-doch-nicht 2025-10-12 Results thumb|right|300px|Constitutional Court hearings on the FPÖ's election challenge (20–23 June) Hofer, the Freedom Party candidate, led in the first round of the election on 24 April with an unexpectedly strong 35 percent of the vote. https://next.ft.com/content/a9d48cea-0a27-11e6-b0f1-61f222853ff3 Far-right Freedom party wins first round of Austria's presidential poll Financial Times 24 April 2016 26 April 2016 Van der Bellen came second with 21 percent, and since Hofer failed to gain an absolute majority the election proceeded to a run-off vote between the two, scheduled for 22 May. Independent Irmgard Griss came third with 19 percent, while Khol and Hundstorfer, representing the two governing parties, polled 11 percent each. Johannes Pollak described the result as a "political earthquake" https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/apr/25/austrian-far-right-partys-triumph-presidential-poll-turmoil-norbert-hofer Austrian far-right party's triumph in presidential poll could spell turmoil The Guardian 25 April 2016 26 April 2016 Johannes Pollak, a political scientist at the Institute of Advanced Studies in Vienna, said Van der Bellen was a marginal favourite to win. 'The established parties will do their best to stop a rightwing populist from coming to power. But after this political earthquake, it is hard to make a certain prognosis.' and the Financial Times reported an "historic upset".August 2016 The provisional result on 22 May gave Hofer 51.9% of the votes, not counting the absentee ballots, which were likely to favour Van der Bellen. Hence the outcome remained unclear pending the counting of absentee ballots on Monday 23 May. http://orf.at/stories/2340500/2340505/ Entscheidung vertagt 22 May 2016 ORF LIVE-Ticker: Van der Bellen ist Bundespräsident (German) http://www.oe24.at/oesterreich/politik/LIVE-Ticker-Erste-Wahlkarten-sind-ausgezaehlt/236731343 OE24 23 May 2016 The final result, including absentee ballots, gave Van der Bellen 50.3%. He was to succeed Heinz Fischer as president on 8 July 2016. http://orf.at/stories/2340556/2340559/ Fischer bereitet Übergabe vor 23 May 2016 ORF This was the first time a phenomenon akin to blue shift was widely discussed publicly in an Austrian election. The Kronen Zeitung reported some election irregularities, such as a 146.9% turnout in Waidhofen an der Ybbs and another impossible result in Linz. http://www.krone.at/Oesterreich/146.9_Prozent_Wahlbeteiligung_in_WaidhofenYbbs-Ministeriumspanne-Story-511598 146,9 Prozent Wahlbeteiligung in Waidhofen/Ybbs 24 May 2016 Kronen Zeitung According to the head of the Interior Ministry's election department, Robert Stein, the results (which were simply a reporting error) were to be corrected in the official results. FPÖ officials highlighted the discrepancies, but Hofer dismissed any suggestion of electoral fraud. Oltermann Philip Far-right Austrian presidential candidate dismisses voter fraud claims https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/may/24/austria-far-right-freedom-party-cries-foul-presidential-election-defeat 27 May 2016 The Guardian 24 May 2016 On 8 June the FPÖ announced that they would contest the outcome in the Constitutional Court. Between 20 and 23 June the Constitutional Court questioned some 90 witnesses, mostly election officials from district election commissions. Austria Might Stage Another Vote Much Sooner Than You Think: Q&A https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-06-21/austrian-presidential-victor-now-a-question-for-the-courts-q-a 24 June 2016 Bloomberg 21 June 2016 A ruling by the Constitutional Court was expected before 8 July, determining whether to organize a repeat vote in certain regions. Because of the complexity of the FPÖ's lawsuit, it also had been possible that ruling could come after 8 July. As a consequence, Alexander Van der Bellen's inauguration was to be postponed until a later date. On 1 July the Constitutional Court declared the second round of the election annulled, requiring a repeat of the election. http://diepresse.com/home/politik/innenpolitik/5040400/Live_VfGH-ordnet-Wiederholung-der-Stichwahl-in-ganz-Osterreich-an Live: VfGH ordnet Wiederholung der Stichwahl in ganz Österreich an 1 July 2016 The three presidents of the National Council (Doris Bures – SPÖ, Karlheinz Kopf – ÖVP, Norbert Hofer – FPÖ) were designated to collectively serve as acting presidents of Austria, starting after President Heinz Fischer's term ended on 8 July and until the inauguration of the new president. Austrian far-right party challenges presidential election results https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/jun/08/austrias-far-right-freedom-party-challenges-presidential-election-reults 8 June 2016 The Guardian 8 June 2016 right Chart of first-round vote Hofer 35.1 Freedom Party of Austria Van der Bellen 21.3 The Greens – The Green Alternative Griss 18.9 Independent (politician) Hundstorfer 11.3 Social Democratic Party of Austria Khol 11.1 Austrian People's Party Lugner 2.3 #aaaaaa Second round (annulled) Second round (re-run) Norbert Hofer Freedom Party of Austria 1499971 2220654 2124661 Alexander Van der Bellen The Greens (Austria) Independent (The Greens) 913218 2251517 2472892 Irmgard Griss Independent 810641 Rudolf Hundstorfer Social Democratic Party of Austria 482790 Andreas Khol Austrian People's Party 475767 Richard Lugner Independent 96783 4472171 92655 164875 151851 6382507 6382507 6399572 Bundesministerium für Inneres First round results by state, district and municipality center 900 left Austrian presidential election 2016, first round results by state.png Bundespräsidentenwahl Österreich 2016 1. Runde (2).svg Bundespräsidentenwahl Österreich 2016 1. Runde.svg Results of the first round of the election by state (left), district (centre) and municipality (right): auto #0E428E Norbert Hofer #6BA325 Alexander Van der Bellen Independent (politician) Irmgard Griss 1em Social Democratic Party of Austria Rudolf Hundstorfer Austrian People's Party Andreas Khol +Results by statehttp://www.bmi.gv.at/cms/BMI_wahlen/bundespraes/bpw_2016/Ergebnis.aspx Bundespräsidentenwahl 2016 – Gesamtergebnis inklusive Verlautbarung der Bundeswahlbehörde Bundesministerium für Inneres de 2 May 2016 23 May 2016StateGrissHoferHundstorferKholLugnerVan der BellenValid votesVotes%Votes%Votes%Votes%Votes%Votes%TotalBurgenland21,87012.4473,67641.9030,80217.5222,91013.033,3171.8923,27813.24175,853Carinthia65,40022.92110,77638.8338,71413.5719,7826.939,7043.4040,93414.35285,310Lower Austria168,14817.47342,56835.59114,57711.90136,69714.2026,0642.71174,56918.13962,623Salzburg47,85617.9799,47637.3526,2009.8435,03813.156,0542.2751,73519.42266,359Styria143,17621.76255,55238.8467,94510.3363,8669.7113,5112.05113,87717.31657,927Tyrol59,37219.24109,55235.5118,7966.0938,96912.636,6602.1675,19024.37308,539Upper Austria131,01317.47263,48735.1388,41911.7999,43213.2614,2591.90153,43620.46750,046Vienna138,57719.09200,93327.6791,03012.5443,6276.0114,1311.95237,76532.75726,063Vorarlberg35,22924.0643,95130.016,3074.3115,44610.553,0832.1142,43428.98146,450Total valid810,64118.941,499,97135.05482,79011.28475,76711.1296,7832.26913,21821.344,279,170 Annulled second round results by state, district and municipality center 900 left Austrian presidential election 2016, second round (May 2016) results by state annulled.png Bundespräsidentenwahl Österreich 2016 2. Runde (22. Mai 2016) annulliert.svg Bundespräsidentenwahl Österreich 2016 2. Runde Mai 2016 annulliert.svg Results of the second round of the election by state (left), district (centre) and municipality (right): #0E428E Norbert Hofer #6BA325 Alexander Van der Bellen +Annulled second round results by statehttp://www.bmi.gv.at/cms/BMI_wahlen/bundespraes/bpw_2016/Ergebnis_2WG.aspx Bundespräsidentenwahl 2016 – 2. Wahlgang – Vorläufiges Gesamtergebnis inklusive Briefwahlstimmen Bundesministerium für Inneres de 23 May 2016 24 May 2016StateHoferVan der BellenValid votesVotes%Votes%TotalBurgenland107,12861.4367,24938.57174,377Carinthia169,56458.10122,29941.90291,863Lower Austria511,01052.65459,65547.35970,665Salzburg144,93852.80129,56947.20274,507Styria381,95556.22297,40043.78679,355Tyrol169,58748.61179,28151.39348,868Upper Austria376,64748.68397,11951.32773,766Vienna288,60836.68498,16863.32786,776Vorarlberg71,21741.41100,77758.59171,994Total valid2,220,65449.652,251,51750.354,472,171 Second round re-run results by state, district and municipality center 900 left Austrian presidential election 2016, second round (4 December 2016) results by state.png Bundespräsidentenwahl Österreich 2016 Wiederholung der 2. Runde (4. Dezember 2016).svg Bundespräsidentenwahl_Österreich_2016_Wiederholung_2._Runde_Dez_2016.svg Results of the re-run of the second round of the election by state (left), district (centre) and municipality (right): #0E428E Norbert Hofer #6BA325 Alexander Van der Bellen +Second round re-run results by stateStateHoferVan der BellenValid votesVotes%Votes%TotalBurgenland102,14758.1373,58141.87175,728Carinthia167,42554.59139,27645.41306,701Lower Austria485,87449.34498,84950.66984,723Salzburg135,48348.03146,61651.97282,099Styria363,77852.74325,96047.26689,738Tyrol166,65045.31201,16054.69367,810Upper Austria356,61944.73440,63155.27797,250Vienna278,89434.32533,69765.68812,591Vorarlberg67,79137.45113,12262.53180,913Total valid2,124,661 46.21 2,472,892 53.79 4,597,553 Result cancelled On 8 June, FPÖ chairman Heinz-Christian Strache brought a 152-page appeal to the Constitutional Court.http://wirtschaftsblatt.at/home/nachrichten/oesterreich/5005805/FPOWahlanfechtung-eingebracht-HC-Strache_Hofer-haette-Praesident FPÖ-Wahlanfechtung eingebracht – HC Strache: Hofer hätte Präsident werden können wirtschaftsblatt.at Strache claimed that more than 30,000 votes had been prematurely tallied, more than 50,000 votes had been counted by unauthorized personnel. Also, there was a pre-sorting of absentee ballots (500,000 of them) into two batches - void ballots and countable ballots (this is permissible as long as both batches are then re-checked by the commission).http://kurier.at/politik/inland/faktencheck-wie-lauten-die-fpoe-vorwuerfe-und-was-ist-dran/203.584.185 Faktencheck: Wie lauten die FPÖ-Vorwürfe und was ist dran? kurier.at 9 June 2016 Other charges included minors and non-citizens having been allowed to vote.Austria presidential poll result overturned BBC News https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-36681475 1 July 2016 9 December 2016 The Austrian Interior Ministry acknowledged some irregularities but said that the number of votes affected was not enough to overturn the results. "There was sloppiness", said Interior Minister Wolfgang Sobotka.https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-austria-election/austrian-far-right-gets-second-chance-at-presidency-with-vote-re-run-idUKKCN0ZH4K3 https://web.archive.org/web/20181127191424/https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-austria-election/austrian-far-right-gets-second-chance-at-presidency-with-vote-re-run-idUKKCN0ZH4K3 dead 27 November 2018 Austrian far right gets second chance at presidency with vote re-run 1 July 2016 Reuters Counsel for Van der Bellen argued that the irregularities would have had only an "insignificant" impact on results, while lawyers for the FPÖ said they could have affected the results of the election.http://www.irishtimes.com/news/world/europe/austrian-presidential-election-must-be-held-again-court-rules-1.2706682 Austrian presidential election must be held again, court rules The Irish Times 1 July 2016 But on 1 July, since Hofer had lost to Van der Bellen by 30,863 votes and the Court found that more than twice that number (77,926) had been affected by breaches of the electoral code, The Constitutional Court ordered that the second round be held again. Noting the irregularities, the Court said in a statement: "It is completely clear to the Constitutional Court that laws regulating an election must be rigorously applied ... This must rule out abuse and manipulations."Troianovski Anton Anton Troianovski 1 July 2016 Austrian Court Orders Rerun of Presidential Vote https://www.wsj.com/articles/austrian-court-orders-rerun-of-presidential-vote-1467369788 subscription The Wall Street Journal Berlin Before the Court's ruling, Van der Bellen was scheduled to be sworn in as president on 9 July. Elections were set for 2 October 2016.https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-36714480 Austria to re-run overturned presidential poll in October – BBC News BBC News 5 July 2016 Until then, outgoing Austrian president Heinz Fischer would be replaced on an interim basis by the three presidents of the National Council, a "National President Council", of which Hofer is the third member. Van der Bellen said that Austrians were "shocked and unsettled" by the Court's ruling, but that he expected to win a second time. On 12 September the Federal Minister of the Interior, Wolfgang Sobotka, announced that due to faulty glue in the voting envelopes, the rerun of the second round was postponed until 4 December 2016.https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-37336947 Austria presidential election: Faulty envelope glue delays re-run 12 September 2016 BBC He also said that Austrian law allowed the election to be postponed only in case of death of a candidate, therefore the decision had to be made by parliament.Repeat of Austria's Presidential Runoff Faces a Delay (see video) https://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/13/world/europe/austria-president-election.html The New York Times 12 September 2016 The delay also allowed for some young Austrians who turned 16 after May to vote in the rerun. FPÖ Chairman Heinz-Christian Strache criticized postponing the elections, claiming it was done by political opponents because Hofer was doing well in the polls.https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-37336947 Austria presidential election: Faulty envelope glue delays re-run Kate Connolly 12 September 2016 The Guardian See also List of annulled elections Blue shift (politics) an effect observed in the first runoff References External links Austria Politics Austria President Category:Annulled elections Category:Presidential elections in Austria Presidential Presidential Presidential