2009 Vorarlberg state election

The 2009 Vorarlberg state election was held on 20 September 2009 to elect the members of the Landtag of Vorarlberg.

2009 Vorarlberg state election

20 September 2009
All 36 seats in the Landtag of Vorarlberg 19 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	178,711 (68.4%) 7.8%
Leader Herbert Sausgruber Dieter Egger Party ÖVP FPÖ Last election 21 seats, 54.9% 5 seats, 12.9% Seats won 20 9 Seat change 1 4 Popular vote 90,108 44,562 Percentage 50.8% 25.1% Swing 4.1% 12.2%   Leader Johannes Rauch Michael Ritsch Party Greens SPÖ Last election 4 seats, 10.2% 6 seats, 16.9% Seats won 4 3 Seat change 0 3 Popular vote 18,763 17,779 Percentage 10.6% 10.0% Swing 0.4% 6.9%
ÖVP results by municipality. Darker shades indicate a stronger vote share.
Governor before election Herbert Sausgruber ÖVP Elected Governor Herbert Sausgruber ÖVP

The governing Austrian People's Party (ÖVP) retained their majority with losses, while the Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ) recovered nearly all the losses it had suffered in 2004. The Social Democratic Party of Austria (SPÖ) lost much of their support and fell to fourth place behind The Greens, who stayed essentially level with the strong result they achieved in 2004. Governor Herbert Sausgruber was re-elected by the Landtag.

Background

In the 2004 election, the ÖVP achieved a strong result which allowed them to regain a comfortable majority. This was matched by major losses for the FPÖ, who fell from second to third place. Both the SPÖ and Greens also benefited. In addition, turnout fell catastrophically from 88% to just 60%.

Electoral system

The 36 seats of the Landtag of Vorarlberg are elected via open list proportional representation in a two-step process. The seats are distributed between four multi-member constituencies, corresponding to the districts of Vorarlberg. 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 Hagenbach-Bischoff quota, with any remaining seats allocated at the state level, to ensure overall proportionality between a party's vote share and its share of seats.

Contesting parties

The table below lists parties represented in the previous Landtag.

Name			Ideology	Leader	2004 result
					Votes (%)	Seats
	ÖVP	Austrian People's Party Österreichische Volkspartei	Christian democracy	Herbert Sausgruber	54.9%	21 / 36
	SPÖ	Social Democratic Party of Austria Sozialdemokratische Partei Österreichs	Social democracy	Michael Ritsch	16.9%	6 / 36
	FPÖ	Freedom Party of Austria Freiheitliche Partei Österreichs	Right-wing populism Euroscepticism	Dieter Egger	12.9%	5 / 36
	GRÜNE	The Greens – The Green Alternative Die Grünen – Die Grüne Alternative	Green politics	Johannes Rauch	10.2%	4 / 36

In addition to the parties already represented in the Landtag, four parties collected enough signatures to be placed on the ballot.

• The Gsiberger (GSI)
• Alliance for the Future of Austria (BZÖ)
• wir-gemeinsam.at (WIR)
• Kiebitz

Result

Party		Votes	%	+/−	Seats	+/−
	Austrian People's Party (ÖVP)	90,108	50.79	–4.13	20	–1
	Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ)	44,562	25.12	+12.18	9	+4
	The Greens – The Green Alternative (GRÜNE)	18,763	10.58	+0.41	4	±0
	Social Democratic Party of Austria (SPÖ)	17,779	10.02	–6.85	3	–3
	The Gsiberger (GSI)	3,090	1.74	New	0	New
	Alliance for the Future of Austria (BZÖ)	2,134	1.20	New	0	New
	wir-gemeinsam.at (WIR)	647	0.36	New	0	New
	Kiebitz	331	0.19	New	0	New
Invalid/blank votes		1,297	–	–	–	–
Total		178,711	100	–	36	0
Registered voters/turnout		261,132	68.44	+7.80	–	–
Source: Vorarlberg Government

Popular vote ÖVP   50.79% FPÖ   25.12% GRÜNE   10.58% SPÖ   10.02% Other   3.49%

Landtag seats ÖVP   55.56% FPÖ   25.00% GRÜNE   11.11% SPÖ   8.33%

Results by constituency

Constituency	ÖVP	FPÖ	Grüne	SPÖ	Others
	%	%	%	%	%
Bludenz	52.0	25.6	7.2	12.1	3.1
Bregenz	54.6	22.6	9.8	9.7	3.3
Dornbirn	45.1	29.2	11.7	9.8	4.2
Feldkirch	49.6	24.8	12.9	9.2	3.5
Total	50.8	25.1	10.6	10.0	3.5
Source: Vorarlberg Government

References