1956 Austrian legislative election

Parliamentary elections were held in Austria on 13 May 1956.[1] The result was a victory for the Austrian People's Party, which won 82 of the 165 seats in the National Council. Voter turnout was 96.0%.[2] Although the ÖVP had come up one seat short of an absolute majority, ÖVP leader and Chancellor Julius Raab retained the grand coalition with the Socialists, with the SPÖ leader Adolf Schärf as Vice-Chancellor.

1956 Austrian legislative election

13 May 1956
165 seats in the National Council of Austria 83 seats needed for a majority
Leader Julius Raab Adolf Schärf Party ÖVP SPÖ Leader since 1951 15 December 1945 Last election 74 seats, 41.26% 73 seats, 42.11% Seats won 82 74 Seat change 8 1 Popular vote 1,999,986 1,873,295 Percentage 46.31% 43.38% Swing 5.05% 1.27%   Leader Anton Reinthaller Johann Koplenig Party FPÖ KPÖ Leader since 7 April 1956 1924 Last election New Party 4 seats, 5.28% Seats won 6 3 Seat change 6 1 Popular vote 283,749 192,438 Percentage 6.57% 4.46% Swing 6.57% 0.82%
Chancellor before election Julius Raab ÖVP Elected Chancellor Julius Raab ÖVP

Results

Party		Votes	%	Seats	+/–
	Austrian People's Party	1,999,986	46.0	82	+8
	Socialist Party of Austria	1,873,295	43.0	74	+1
	Freedom Party of Austria	283,749	6.5	6	–8
	Communists and Left Socialists	192,438	4.4	3	–1
	Free Workers Movement of Austria	1,812	0.0	0	New
	Party of Reason	284	0.0	0	New
	Ergokratische Party	231	0.0	0	New
	Austrian Patriotic Party	83	0.0	0
	Austrian Middle Class Party	23	0.0	0	New
	Parliamentary Representatives of the People prevented from voting, Non-Voters and Invalid Voters in Austria	7	0.0	0	New
Invalid/blank votes		76,831	–	–	–
Total		4,395,519	100	165	0
Source: Nohlen & Stöver

Popular vote ÖVP   45.96% SPÖ   43.05% FPÖ   6.52% KuL   4.42% Other   0.06%

Parliamentary seats ÖVP   49.70% SPÖ   44.85% FPÖ   3.64% KuL   1.82%

References

1. Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) Elections in Europe: A data handbook, p196 ISBN 978-3-8329-5609-7
2. Nohlen & Stöver, p214