2009 Salzburg state election explained

Election Name:2009 Salzburg state election
Country:Salzburg
Flag Year:state
Type:parliamentary
Ongoing:no
Previous Election:2004 Salzburg state election
Previous Year:2004
Next Election:2013 Salzburg state election
Next Year:2013
Seats For Election:All 36 seats in the Landtag of Salzburg
Majority Seats:19
Election Date:1 March 2009
Turnout:287,065 (74.4%)
2.9%
Leader1:Gabi Burgstaller
Party1:Social Democratic Party of Austria
Last Election1:17 seats, 45.4%
Seats1:15
Seat Change1: 2
Popular Vote1:111,485
Percentage1:39.4%
Swing1: 6.0%
Party2:Austrian People's Party
Last Election2:14 seats, 37.9%
Seats2:14
Seat Change2: 0
Popular Vote2:103,385
Percentage2:36.5%
Swing2: 1.4%
Leader4:Karl Schnell
Party4:Freedom Party of Austria
Last Election4:3 seats, 8.7%
Seats4:5
Seat Change4: 2
Popular Vote4:36,845
Percentage4:13.0%
Swing4: 4.3%
Leader5:Cyriak Schwaighofer
Party5:The Greens – The Green Alternative
Last Election5:2 seats, 8.0%
Seats5:2
Seat Change5: 0
Popular Vote5:20,843
Percentage5:7.4%
Swing5: 0.6%
Governor
Before Election:Gabi Burgstaller
Before Party:Social Democratic Party of Austria
After Election:Wilfried Haslauer Jr.
After Party:Austrian People's Party

The 2009 Salzburg state election was held on 1 March 2009 to elect the members of the Landtag of Salzburg.

The Social Democratic Party of Austria (SPÖ) remained the largest party but took moderate losses. Its coalition partner the Austrian People's Party (ÖVP) also suffered a small swing against it. The Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ) recovered somewhat from its 2004 defeat, winning five seats. The Greens remained stable. The SPÖ renewed its coalition with the ÖVP, and Governor Gabi Burgstaller was re-elected for a second term.[1]

Background

In the 2004 election, the SPÖ became the largest party in the Landtag for the first time in post-war history. While the ÖVP suffered only a slight decline, they fell to second place in the face of a major swing to the SPÖ, who captured voters from the FPÖ and Liberal Forum. The FPÖ fell from 20% to under 9%, while the Greens made gains. Gabi Burgstaller subsequently became the first SPÖ governor of Salzburg, in a coalition with the ÖVP.

Electoral system

The 36 seats of the Landtag of Salzburg are elected via open list proportional representation in a two-step process. The seats are distributed between six multi-member constituencies. For parties to receive any representation in the Landtag, they must either win at least one seat in a constituency directly, or clear a 5 percent state-wide electoral threshold. Seats are distributed in constituencies according to the Hare quota, with any remaining seats allocated using the D'Hondt method at the state level, to ensure overall proportionality between a party's vote share and its share of seats.[2]

Contesting parties

The table below lists parties represented in the previous Landtag.

NameIdeologyLeader2004 result
Votes (%)Seats
SPÖSocial Democratic Party of Austria
Social democracyGabi Burgstaller45.4%
ÖVPAustrian People's Party
Christian democracyWilfried Haslauer Jr.37.9%
FPÖFreedom Party of Austria
Right-wing populism
Euroscepticism
Karl Schnell8.7%
GRÜNEThe Greens – The Green Alternative
Green politicsCyriak Schwaighofer8.0%

In addition to the parties already represented in the Landtag, one party collected enough signatures to be placed on the ballot:

Results

PartyVotes%+/−Seats+/−
bgcolor=Social Democratic Party of Austria (SPÖ)111,48539.37–6.0315–2
bgcolor=Austrian People's Party (ÖVP)103,38536.55–1.3714±0
bgcolor=Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ)36,84513.02+4.335+2
bgcolor=The Greens – The Green Alternative (GRÜNE)20,8437.35–0.632±0
bgcolor=Alliance for the Future of Austria (BZÖ)10,4773.70New0New
Invalid/blank votes4,030
Total287,065100360
align=left colspan=2Registered voters/turnout386,06874.36–2.94
align=left colspan=7 Source: Salzburg State Government

Results by constituency

ConstituencySPÖÖVPFPÖGrüneBZÖTotal
seats
Turnout
class=unsortable% class=unsortableclass=unsortable% class=unsortableclass=unsortable% class=unsortableclass=unsortable% class=unsortableclass=unsortable% class=unsortable
38.9 3 30.2 2 13.2 1 13.3 1 4.4 7 60.1
41.2 1 37.0 1 11.4 6.7 3.7 2 78.8
34.8 3 40.1 4 13.0 1 7.9 4.3 8 77.4
42.0 2 37.6 1 13.3 4.1 3.0 3 80.5
38.8 39.9 14.2 3.3 3.7 0 84.2
44.0 2 36.1 2 13.3 4.0 2.5 4 81.0
Remaining seats 4 4 3 1 12
Total 39.4 15 36.5 14 13.0 5 7.4 2 3.7 36 74.4
Source: Salzburg State Government

Notes and References

  1. Web site: New old state government sworn in. 22 April 2009. Der Standard.
  2. Web site: Election results. Salzburg State Government.