Election of the Federal President in Austria 2010

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Election of the Federal President 2010
79.33%
15.24%
5.43%
Fisherman rosary Gehring
Official residence of the Federal President: the Leopoldine wing of the Hofburg

The federal presidential election in Austria 2010 took place on April 25, 2010 and was the twelfth election of an Austrian head of state by the federal people in the history of the Second Republic . In addition to the incumbent Federal President Heinz Fischer, the Lower Austrian Provincial Councilor Barbara Rosenkranz ( FPÖ ) and the party leader of the CPÖ , Rudolf Gehring , ran for the election . Fischer was confirmed in office with 79.33% of the valid votes. The turnout was at an all-time low of 53.6%.

Result

candidate valid votes proportion of
Heinz Fischer 2,508,373 79.33%
Barbara Rosary 481.923 15.24%
Rudolf Gehring 171,668 5.43%

Of the 6,355,568 eligible voters, 3,404,646 cast their votes, resulting in a turnout of 53.6%.
242,682 votes were considered invalid, which corresponds to 7.13% of the votes cast.

Suffrage

All persons who had reached the age of 16 by April 25, 2010 at the latest and were entitled to vote

For the first time in the federal presidential election in 2010 there was no compulsory voting in a presidential election anywhere in Germany.

Candidates

The ranking of the candidates on the ballot paper was made in alphabetical order.

Federal President Heinz Fischer
Rudolf Gehring
Barbara Rosary

Heinz Fischer

The incumbent Federal President Heinz Fischer , who moved into the Hofburg in 2004 as a candidate for the Social Democratic Party of Austria (SPÖ) , was entitled to apply for a second term in accordance with the Austrian Federal Constitution (Art. 60, Paragraph 5 B-VG). Fischer officially announced on November 23, 2009 that he would run for a second term. However, this time he will run as an independent candidate. With 45,000 declarations of support, Fischer had 5,000 more than in 2004. The Greens officially recommended Heinz Fischer's election.

Rudolf Gehring

Rudolf Gehring , Federal Chairman of the Christian Party of Austria (CPÖ), was the third candidate to receive the required 6,000 declarations of support. On March 26, 2010, around 8,000 signatures were sent to the electoral authority.

Barbara Rosary

On February 28, 2010, Heinz-Christian Strache announced that the Lower Austrian Provincial Councilor Barbara Rosenkranz was running for the FPÖ as a presidential candidate. Rosenkranz's candidacy was initially supported by the “ Kronen Zeitung ” and personally by its publisher, Hans Dichand . Shortly after the announcement of her appearance, however, Rosenkranz was heavily criticized in some cases because of a statement that parts of the Nazi Prohibition Act contradicted freedom of expression. The "Kronen Zeitung" subsequently demanded an affidavit from the candidate of her rejection of National Socialist ideas. Rosenkranz complied with this request on March 8, 2010. On March 23, 2010, the FPÖ issued 10,500 declarations of support for Rosenkranz.

Election campaign

In addition to the events surrounding Barbara Rosenkranz's statements regarding the prohibition law, another incident caused a political sensation before the start of the election campaign. The forester Ulrich Habsburg-Lothringen announced that he would also run as a candidate, although this was forbidden for constitutional reasons. Since September 2009, however, efforts have been made to repeal the provision in the Federal Constitution and in the Federal President's Election Act that members of ruling or formerly ruling noble houses are not allowed to run for the office of Federal President.

OSCE observation

For the first time, a commission from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) accompanied an election in Austria. An 11-member OSCE commission monitored the election campaign from April 12 to 25. According to the media, among other things, the legal regulation of a presidential election and campaign funding were explored. The election process itself on election day was not an observation point. The Commission's report was published on July 9, 2010.

Campaign topics and advertising slogans

General

Independent of the person, the topic of a presumed low voter turnout dominated the entire election campaign. The reason for this was the great popularity of the incumbent president, which suggested a victory for Fischer, and the lack of a strong opponent. On various occasions (speeches, radio advertising, website etc.), Heinz Fischer in particular reminded the population to make use of the right to vote.

In the media coverage, an election recommendation by the political parties that did not nominate a candidate was repeatedly an issue. While the Greens officially recommended the election of Fischer after a hearing with the incumbent Federal President, the BZÖ and the ÖVP made no election recommendations. However, individual ÖVP members expressed themselves differently on this and on voting behavior in general (“choose white” or not). Therefore, different assumptions were made about the general voting behavior of ÖVP voters. Towards the end of the election campaign, there was less of a “final spurt” in the election efforts of the candidates in the media, but rather increased mobilization for voter participation. For example, former leading political figures from various parties pleaded for Fischer to be cast, which was seen as a reaction to the ÖVP's strategy of invalidating the vote.

Barbara Rosenkranz's statement about the prohibition law also ran through the entire election campaign. The candidate was confronted with it on numerous occasions, so that the topic of "National Socialist sentiments" was always present in the presidential election. This fact was also expressed in the fact that when Barbara Rosenkranz appeared in the elections, counter-demonstrators also appeared with slogans that were directed against National Socialism in general or FPÖ posters were provided with anti-Nazi slogans.

Heinz Fischer

Federal President Heinz Fischer officially started his election campaign in Vienna on March 23, 2010, but for image reasons it was not called “election campaign” but “election campaign”. As in previous years in other elections and for all political parties in a similar form, this election tour through the country was staged in the media like a tour by a popular artist.

From the start, Federal President Heinz Fischer's election campaign had the motto “Our actions need values”. At the start of his active election campaign, Fischer gave a "keynote address" in which he explained in more detail what this meant.

Rudolf Gehring

Rudolf Gehring officially started his election campaign on April 6th with a Holy Mass . He had previously announced that he would be conducting “the most economical election campaign” and not using any posters in his campaigns. Gehring, who speaks out against deadlines, abortion and euthanasia, named “protection of life ” as a central concern . The family as a whole was also very important to him.

On the one hand, Gehring hoped to get votes from potential Fischer voters by again expressing the same as the latter that he was available as Federal President "for all Austrians". At the same time he addressed possible Rosenkranz voters with the statement that he saw Christian values ​​threatened by an increased Islamization of the country. He positioned himself on the classic political left-right scale in the “middle class” and interpreted “middle class” as “for all citizens”.

Gehring named participation in a second ballot as the election goal, which occurs when no candidate has more than 50% of all votes and Gehring has received the most or the second most votes.

Barbara Rosary

Barbara Rosenkranz's election campaign kicked off - contrary to original plans for a later date - on March 25, 2010 with a press conference in which she spoke out in favor of a strong family policy.

When asked about her slogan “Without courage, no values”, the candidate said that this could also be interpreted to mean that she, as the only member of the EU constitution, had not given her approval in parliament.

The FPÖ party leader Heinz Christian Strache originally named 35% of the votes as the election target, Rosenkranz himself named the best result ever achieved by an FPÖ candidate, which corresponds to 17% of the vote.

Strategies

Heinz Fischer

The incumbent Federal President acted statesmanlike and experienced with his statements in his “keynote speech” at the start of the election campaign, seeing his political values ​​as responsible for the country and highlighting them as important for a “political conscience”. This signaled responsibility for Austria.

In view of the high popularity of the candidate and the fact that there was no strong opponent from the ÖVP, Fischer was generally expected to win from the outset and a low turnout was feared. Fischer tried to mobilize, among other things, with the playful slogan "Don't choose white, choose in the interest of red-white-red!"

Rudolf Gehring

Gehring did not appear until the end of March. Regarding its success, however, great optimism was shown for advertising reasons. Gehring also borrowed words from the other two candidates, which are typical of their attitudes, with the aim of winning over their potential voters. At the same time, he tried to position himself as an alternative by taking up the issue of values ​​and noting that, unlike the other candidates, he did not post values, but lived.

Barbara Rosary

As with other elections before, the FPÖ relied on the public appeal of its boss Heinz-Christian Strache. It should be transferred to the candidates standing for election who were less well known than him. That is why there were also posters on which Rosenkranz was advertised, but the portrait of the FPÖ boss could be seen. The slogan appeared on this "time for clear words", a statement that referred to the reluctance of the incumbent Federal President Heinz Fischer to comment on current political issues, which the FPÖ denounced.

Rosenkranz's posters advertised with the slogan “Without courage, no values”, which was intended as a response to the slogan of Fischer's poster series “Our actions need values”. In addition, the keywords “family”, “home” and “security” were used for advertising - terms that are considered to be emotive and ideological catchwords for the political stance of the FPÖ. Family policy in particular was a topic that the candidate - like Gehring - always attached great importance to during the election campaign. Barbara Rosenkranz also formulated the statement “From the people - for the people instead of from above” on her homepage. This sentence constructs an opposition from “above” and “below” and is thus typical of populist politics. This verbal construction of opposites was also continued by the right-wing FPÖ declaring the political opponents, in the election campaign also the SPÖ-affiliated and thus “left” and “red” Heinz Fischer and the critics of Rosenkranz, as extreme left.

All these facts taken together led to the conclusion that the election campaign for the federal presidency was used to a large extent by the FPÖ for the self-portrayal of the party and the propagation of its contents: "One obviously does not vote Barbara Rosenkranz, but the FPÖ."

Personnel committees

As in the previous federal presidential election in 2004 , Fischer relied on a “personal committee” set up before the actual election campaign, which supported his election and which any citizen could also join via the Internet. It was called a "non-partisan initiative".

A so-called “independent” personal committee has also been set up for Barbara Rosenkranz to support the candidate's presidential campaign. Numerous prominent FPÖ members were named as protagonists of the committee.

Rudolf Gehring also announced the existence of a support committee at a press conference on April 8th.

Survey

All opinion polls consistently showed a clear lead for incumbent Federal President Heinz Fischer with a share of the vote between 70% and 84%. Since Barbara Rosenkranz was between 12% and 26% and Rudolf Gehring between 2% and 6%, it was to be assumed that only one ballot would be necessary.

TV confrontation

The TV confrontation that is common today before every nationwide election took place on April 18, 2010 on ORF. Heinz Fischer announced that he - like Rudolf Kirchschläger and Thomas Klestil before him - would not take part and cited the reason that "one [...] can not be the incumbent head of state of the whole country and at the same time take part in a TV confrontation. ". In addition, Rosenkranz's statements on the prohibition law and gas chambers are “not open to discussion”. That is why only Rudolf Gehring and Barbara Rosenkranz were present at this dispute.

The two candidates showed broad agreement on a number of content-related points due to their political stance. In order to distinguish themselves from the respective opposing candidate for the office of president, arguments were repeatedly used by both sides that were not related to content but were viewed as attacks on the person ; Rosenkranz, for example, stated that Gehring had little political competence and experience, while the latter accused the opposing candidate of being party-dependent. Although the Federal Presidents had not participated in a TV confrontation before Fischer, his absence from the discussion was described by both candidates as “aloof” and “not close to the people”. Fischer was also criticized on other points (such as having been inactive during his tenure), so that the absent candidate, despite his absence, temporarily determined the discussion.

Another TV confrontation between Gehring and Rosenkranz was broadcast on April 21, 2010 on the private TV station ATV, which essentially showed the same picture.

Parliamentary parties without candidates

BZÖ

On March 1, 2010, BZÖ federal chairman Josef Bucher announced that his party would not nominate a candidate. Bucher himself was originally traded as a candidate.

The green

The Greens - The Green Alternative did not put up any opponent, although there had long been speculations about a possible appearance by Alexander Van der Bellen . On April 12, 2010, the Greens announced their official election recommendation for Heinz Fischer.

ÖVP

The Austrian People's Party (ÖVP) originally announced, despite the popularity that Fischer enjoys with the people, that it would send an opposing candidate into the race. However, no candidate for the highest office in the state could be found. Although the long-time governor of Lower Austria Erwin Pröll had long been traded as a top candidate, he rejected a candidacy on October 13, 2009. The former President of the National Council, Andreas Khol , also categorically rejected a candidacy on October 18, 2009. On October 25, 2009, the Tyrolean governor Günther Platter said that the ÖVP should forego its own candidate. At the end of February 2010, Vice Chancellor Josef Pröll officially confirmed that he would not have his own candidate.

More people who wanted to run for office

Ulrich Habsburg-Lothringen

Swearing in

Heinz Fischer was sworn in again on July 8, 2010 before the Federal Assembly.

See also

Web links

Commons : Election of the Federal President in Austria 2010  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Federal Ministry of the Interior: Federal President election on April 25, 2010
  2. ↑ Federal Ministry of the Interior: Under what conditions can you take part in the federal presidential election on April 25, 2010? (Accessed March 14, 2010; PDF; 1.1 MB)
  3. ↑ Federal Ministry of the Interior: Is it compulsory to vote in Austria? (Accessed March 14, 2010)
  4. ^ Kurier: Fischer is running again ( memento of January 21, 2010 in the Internet Archive ), November 23, 2009.
  5. ↑ a b KleineZeitung.at: Almost 45,000 signatures for fishermen ( memento from February 19, 2014 in the Internet Archive ), accessed on March 26, 2010.
  6. ↑ a b Greens officially recommend Fischer's election ( Memento from August 11, 2014 in the Internet Archive ). In: Small newspaper . April 12, 2010
  7. ↑ KleineZeitung.at: Almost 8,000 signatures for Gehring , accessed on March 26, 2010.
  8. ^ DerStandard.at: An offer from the right corner , February 28, 2010.
  9. ↑ DerStandard.at: FPÖ-Tirol and Krone distance themselves from Rosenkranz , accessed on March 7, 2010.
  10. ↑ Original affidavit ( Memento from May 14, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF; 4.7 MB), accessed on March 25, 2010.
  11. ^ Oe24.at: Rosenkranz: affidavit .
  12. ^ Die Presse: Start for Election Observers , accessed on April 11, 2010.
  13. ↑ OSCE.org: REPUBLIC OF AUSTRIA PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION April 25, 2010
  14. ↑ See for example Oberösterreichische Nachrichten: Heinz Fischer's appeal to the white voters , April 19, 2010.
  15. ↑ Der Standard: The Greens' election recommendation for Heinz Fischer , April 12, 2010.
  16. ^ Upper Austrian news: ÖVP chooses white, fisherman or secret , April 18, 2010.
  17. ↑ kurier.at: Page no longer available , search in web archives: Black-Green-Red Call for Fishermen , April 22, 2010.@1@ 2Template: Toter Link / kurier.at
  18. ↑ derStandard.at: The white voter as a black sheep , April 22, 2010.
  19. ↑ See the various TV magazines and election programs in the visual media as well as the reports in the (online) press.
  20. ↑ DiePresse.com: Salzburg: More demonstrators than Rosenkranz fans , April 16, 2010.
  21. ↑ a b ORF: Page no longer available , search in web archives: ZIB 2 report Rosenkranz on catching votes , April 15, 2010.@1@ 2Template: Toter Link / tvthek.orf.at
  22. ^ DiePresse.com: Graffiti for the Hofburg election: election posters 'embellished'. , accessed April 22, 2010.
  23. ^ "Salzburger Nachrichten": Starting shot for the election campaign ( memento of March 27, 2010 in the Internet Archive ), March 24, 2010.
  24. ↑ heinzfischer.at: Page no longer available , search in web archives: “Don't choose white, choose red-white-red” , accessed on March 28, 2010.@1@ 2Template: Toter Link / www.heinzfischer.at
  25. ↑ a b c page no longer available , search in web archives: wording of the speech in the original , accessed on March 27, 2010.@1@ 2Template: Toter Link / www.heinzfischer.at
  26. ↑ a b c The standard: With the force from above against the force from the right , April 7, 2010.
  27. ^ Die Presse.com: Hofburg: Christian boss Gehring takes office , March 25, 2010.
  28. ↑ a b c d e Cf. inter alia the relevant question in the ORF: TV confrontation ( memento of April 23, 2010 in the Internet Archive ).
  29. ↑ ORF: March 26, 2010 - article Rosenkranz starts election campaign ( Memento from March 29, 2010 in the Internet Archive )
  30. ↑ diePresse.com: Rosenkranz: Turkish schools are "crazy idea"
  31. ↑ Upper Austrian news: Strache wants 35 percent from Rosenkranz , March 3, 2010, accessed on April 19, 2010.
  32. ↑ Kronen Zeitung: "2.5 million skip the presidential election!" (Headline on March 31, 2010 on page 1, quoted from krone.at ( memento of December 3, 2009 in the Internet Archive )).
  33. ↑ "Voting white" means taking part in the election, but throwing the ballot into the ballot box without ticking a candidate (ie leaving the ballot "white"). Even if the voter wants to express something with it, such as a protest against the candidates available for selection, the ballot is simply invalid in the legal sense.
  34. ↑ a b news.at: election poster analysis ( memento of the original from April 2, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , accessed March 31, 2010. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.news.at
  35. ↑ http://www.barbara-rosenkranz.at/?sid=item&iid=6 ( Memento from April 7, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) , accessed on April 6, 2010.
  36. ↑ barbara-rosenkranz.at: Vom Volk - fürs Volk , accessed on March 31, 2010.
  37. ^ Keyword right-wing populism , in: Oswald Panagl , Peter Gerlich (ed.): Dictionary of political language in Austria. Österreichischer Bundesverlag, Vienna 2007.
  38. ↑ kurier.at: How “red” is Heinz Fischer? ( Memento from April 20, 2010 in the Internet Archive ), April 17, 2010.
  39. ↑ THOUGHTS ON ASYLUM POLICY ( Memento from August 4, 2013 in the Internet Archive ), accessed on April 9, 2010.
  40. ↑ Page no longer available , search in web archives: Page on rudolf.gehring.at , accessed on April 9, 2010.@1@ 2Template: Toter Link / www.rudolf-gehring.at
  41. ↑ Politspiegel.at: Heinz Fischer does not take part in the TV confrontation , March 31, 2010, accessed on April 24, 2010.
  42. ↑ News.at: “Gehring and Rosenkranz in a duel” , April 19, 2010.
  43. ↑ DiePresse.com: Rosary vs. Gehring: "We are already together" , April 22, 2010.
  44. ↑ DerStandard.at: BZÖ does not send anyone into the race , March 1, 2010.
  45. ↑ Die Presse: Pröll is not running for President , October 13, 2009.
  46. ↑ oe24.at: Khol: “I'm not a candidate” , October 18, 2009.
  47. ↑ tirol.orf.at: Platter: "No ÖVP candidate against Fischer" , October 25, 2009.
  48. ^ DiePresse.com: Hofburg election: ÖVP does not nominate a candidate , 25 February 2010.
  49. ↑ § 60 B-VG in the version valid in the 2010 election year, before - not least at the instigation of Ulrich Habsburg-Lothringen - the corresponding provision of the exclusion from the passive right to vote for "members of governing houses and for members of formerly governing families" from the Section 60 has been removed by the legislature.
  50. ↑ Federal President: Habsburg does not run. In: Austria. ORF .at, March 25, 2010.
  51. ↑ Martin Wabl starts third attempt at Hofburg. In: Die Presse , October 28, 2009