Electoral procedure
Election of the Federal PresidentThe Federal President is elected directly by the citizens of the Republic – i.e., by all citizens who are entitled to vote – by secret ballot in a free and fair popular general election to a term of six years. If only one candidate stands for election, the election takes the form of a referendum. This regulation, which was not introduced until 1982, is intended primarily to allow an incumbent, universally acclaimed Federal President to serve a second term without an election campaign. So far, every incumbent President who has stood for a second term has been re-elected – Adolf Schärf in 1963, Franz Jonas in 1971, Rudolf Kirchschläger in 1980 and Thomas Klestil in 1998.
The Right to Vote
Anyone entitled to vote in the National Assembly election has the right to vote in the presidential election. The right to vote can be exercised only by persons who are entered in the electoral registers. Voting is no longer compulsory in any of the nine Austrian federal states. The former universal legal obligation to vote corresponded to the conservative philosophy according to which political rights also entailed personal duties.
Eligibility for Office
Only someone eligible to vote in the National Assembly election and who has passed his or her 35th birthday as of the end of election day can be elected Federal President. In fact, the youngest candidate to run in a presidential election was Dr. Heide Schmidt, at the age of 44, in 1992.
Reasons for Ineligibility
Members of ruling dynasties or such families that have reigned in the past, and persons who have already served two consecutive terms as the Federal President, cannot be elected. This is to avoid having a permanent president or elected monarch. The presidents of many countries are subject to such rules.
The regulation providing that members of formerly or presently reigning families are ineligible for the office is directed against attempts – which can be observed repeatedly throughout history – to bring back the monarchy via the Presidency of the Republic.
The details of the electoral procedure are regulated by the 1971 Presidential Election Act, Federal Law Gazette [Bundesgesetzblatt, BGBl.] No. 57, as amended by Federal Law Gazette [BGBl.] I No. 90/2003.
The Electoral Procedure in Detail
The Federal Government calls the election such that the newly-elected candidate can take office as soon as the outgoing President’s term has ended. The announcement of the presidential election must include the election date and the filing date.
Names of proposed candidates must be submitted to the federal electoral authorities no later than 30 days before election day. Each nomination must be signed by at least 6,000 eligible voters. An amount of €3,600 must be paid at the same time.
The Central Electoral Authority must announce the election results immediately in the Official Gazette [Amtsblatt zur Wiener Zeitung]. If the election is not contested or a challenge is disallowed, the Federal Chancellor must announce the election results in the Federal Law Gazette at once, whereupon the incumbent Federal President or the President’s representative must promptly convoke the Federal Assembly for the inauguration.
© 2010 The Federal President of the Republic of Austria : imprint : legal notes : contact
