2022 Austrian presidential election

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2022 Austrian presidential election
← 2016 Fall 2022
Incumbent President

Alexander Van der Bellen
Independent



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Presidential elections are scheduled to be held in Austria in 2022 (most likely during the fall, between September and December 2022).[1] Incumbent Alexander Van der Bellen is eligible for one more term.[2]

Date[]

Up until 2016, presidential elections were held during spring – but because the 2016 election runoff had to be repeated in December by Constitutional Court order, the date of the next election in 2022 was pushed back by about half a year as well. The exact date for the new election will be set by a joint parliamentary commission during spring/summer 2022 and the election must be held roughly three months after that date was set because of calendar reasons/deadlines.[3] There is no definitive date as to when the election can take place in 2022, the only requirement is that the President-elect has to be sworn in by 26 January 2023. But it has never happened that Austrian elections were scheduled for Christmas or New Year (or during summer school holidays between early July and mid-September), which means that – according to media consensus – it will definitely happen in 2022, most likely during the fall.

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 valid 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.[3] 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.

Austrian citizens who have reached the age of 16 by the end of the day of the election and who are not excluded from voting by a judicial conviction are entitled to vote. For the right to stand for election, the completion of the 35th year is required. As a prerequisite for running as a candidate for Federal President, at least 6.000 declarations of support (= valid signatures of eligible voters) must be submitted to the federal electoral authority set up at the Ministry of the Interior together with the formal candidate declaration. At the same time, a candidate fee of 3.600 € must be paid. The last deadline for submission is the 37th day before the election day at 17:00.

Candidates[]

The official residence of the Austrian President since 1946: The Leopoldine Wing of the Hofburg in Vienna.

President Alexander Van der Bellen has not announced his candidacy for re-election yet and remains undecided about another candidacy. He has said he will make a decision in early 2022.[4]

Opinion polls indicate high approval for President Van der Bellen. A January 2021 survey showed that 68% of voters are satisfied or very satisfied with Van der Bellen's presidency.[5]

The two major parties, the Austrian People's Party (ÖVP) and Social Democratic Party of Austria (SPÖ), traditionally refrain from challenging a popular incumbent president if they choose to seek re-election.

President of the National Council Wolfgang Sobotka of the ÖVP has ruled out running.[6]

The SPÖ has not yet announced whether they will run a candidate.[7] In November 2020, federal chairwoman Pamela Rendi-Wagner stressed that a decision had not been made, but noted that the SPÖ has never challenged an incumbent president. She also ruled out running herself.[8] Second President of the National Council Doris Bures and Mayor of Vienna Michael Ludwig both stated that the party should support Van der Bellen if he chooses to run for a second term.[9][10] Tyrolean branch leader Georg Dornauer suggested that Bures herself should stand for election, even if Van der Bellen runs again.[11]

Norbert Hofer of the Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ), who was runner-up to Van der Bellen in 2016, has made conflicting statements about his intention to seek the presidency for a second time. In 2018, he stated that he plans to run in 2022.[12] In 2020, he stated that he would not run if Van der Bellen sought re-election, but that he would if Rudolf Anschober was the Greens nominee.[13] Anschober himself subsequently ruled out running.[14] In February 2021, Hofer said it was "not unlikely" that he would run, and that he would make the decision a year in advance of the election.[15] After Hofer's resignation as party leader in June, he stated he was unsure whether he would run for president. His successor Herbert Kickl voiced his confidence that Hofer would still run, however.[16]

Publicly expressed interest[]

Opinion polls[]

Polling firm Fieldwork date Sample
size 		Alexander Van der Bellen 2016.jpg Norbert Hofer - FPÖ-Neujahrstreffen 2019.JPG Others/
None/
Undecided 		Lead
Van der Bellen Hofer
Market 23-28 Dec 2021 800 51 - 33 (+16 Undecided) 18
Hajek 6 Dec 2020 814 50 17 33 33

References[]

  1. ^ "Nächste Landtagswahlen erst im Jahr 2023". oe24.at. Retrieved 2021-10-03.
  2. ^ "The Federal President". Austrian Embassy Washington. Retrieved 2021-08-29.
  3. ^ a b "Federal presidential election, overview". Federal Ministry of the Interior (in German). Retrieved 3 December 2021.
  4. ^ "Van der Bellen: "Gudenus? That is just ridiculous."". Profil (in German). 28 April 2018.
  5. ^ "Poll: Praise for Van der Bellen's management". Der Standard (in German). 11 January 2021.
  6. ^ "Federal President: Sobotka does not want to run for office". ORF (in German). 9 February 2020.
  7. ^ "Federal President: Too early to make a decision, say SPÖ state associations". ORF (in German). 30 November 2020.
  8. ^ ""Not in the life plan" Rendi-Wagner rules out Hofburg candidacy". Kleine Zeitung (in German). 13 December 2020.
  9. ^ "Hofburg 2022: SPÖ is considering supporting Van der Bellen". Kurier (in German). 28 November 2020.
  10. ^ "Hofburg candidacy Ludwig: SPÖ should support Van der Bellen". Kleine Zeitung (in German). 27 March 2021.
  11. ^ "Dornauer for Bures as the SPÖ's Hofburg candidate". Österreich (in German). 28 December 2020.
  12. ^ "Hofer wants to run for president again in 2022". Der Standard (in German). 14 October 2018.
  13. ^ "Hofer in the "summer talk": FPÖ will not challenge the Vienna election". ORF (in German). 17 August 2020.
  14. ^ "Anschober does not want to become president and names four factors for corona traffic lights". Der Standard (in German). 21 August 2020.
  15. ^ "Hofer: "Not unlikely that I will compete"". Kronen Zeitung (in German). 2 February 2021.
  16. ^ ""I will stay 3rd President of the National Council"". Pulz24.at (in German). 9 June 2021.
  17. ^ "Ex-BZÖ-Chef Grosz liebäugelt mit Kandidatur als Bundespräsident". diePresse.com (in German). 7 January 2022.
  18. ^ "Marco Pogo will Bundespräsident werden". ORF (in German). 23 October 2021.
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