Voter turnout in Vienna continues to decline

Voter turnout in the Vienna municipal elections fell again compared to 2020. According to the preliminary final results (including postal ballot forecasts), 62.8 percent of eligible voters exercised their right to vote on Sunday. In the Vienna elections five years ago, fewer than two-thirds (65.27 percent) of eligible voters went to the polls.

The FPÖ's Ibiza scandal, expense scandal, and the coronavirus pandemic caused voter turnout to plummet by more than 9 percentage points. It fell again on Sunday.

However, the historic low was not reached. For that to happen, participation would have had to fall below the 60.81 percent it had fallen to in 2005. In 2010 and 2015, there was a – quite remarkable – increase of around seven percentage points each. At 74.75 percent, interest in 2015 was as high as it had been since 1983. The reason for the voter mobilization was the strong polarization in light of the refugee crisis and the predicted or staged "Duel for Vienna" between the FPÖ and SPÖ.

Vienna is thus not in line with the national trend. The share of voters has increased in all state elections since 2022. The current record holder among the federal states is Burgenland with 78.73 percent, while Tyrol brings up the rear, although voter turnout there also recovered from 60.00 percent to 65.02 percent in 2022. Vienna is now below this figure at 62.7 percent.