City council election in Graz 2012
The Graz municipal council election 2012 took place on November 25, 2012. At the same time as the municipal council elections, the district representatives and the migrant advisory council were elected in Graz . Compared to the 2008 election , the KPÖ and the FPÖ were able to gain votes, while the ÖVP, the SPÖ, the Greens and the BZÖ lost votes. The Pirate Party moved into the local council for the first time.
requirements
Starting position
The ÖVP emerged as the big winner in the 2008 municipal council elections. She had clearly defended her first place and with a gain of 2.3% was able to achieve 38.4% of the votes. In contrast, the SPÖ suffered a bitter defeat. In 2008 it lost 6.2% and with 19.7% had to pocket its worst election result so far. The Greens, on the other hand, almost doubled their share of the vote and, after winning 6.3%, achieved a share of 14.6%. At the same time, the Greens were able to move into the City Senate of Graz for the first time. In addition to the SPÖ, the KPÖ was the second loser in the Graz municipal council election in 2008. It lost almost half of its votes and was only fourth among the candidate parties with 11.2%. The FPÖ landed in fifth place in the 2008 election, with a plus of 2.8% behind the polls. Overall, the FPÖ was able to achieve 10.8% of the vote. Furthermore, the BZÖ also succeeded in entering the Graz municipal council for the first time in 2008 with 4.3%.
After the municipal council election, Mayor Siegfried Nagl negotiated a coalition with the SPÖ and the Greens. He finally agreed with the Greens on a coalition that focused on the expansion of childcare, the promotion of integration and the promotion of gentle mobility (walking, cycling and public transport). While the ÖVP took over the departments of human resources, integration, economics, disaster control, finances, real estate, sport, youth, education, kindergartens and urban development, Rücker, as a city councilor, was given responsibility for the environment and the areas of business and transport. The SPÖ was assigned the departments of culture, health, social affairs and women, the KPÖ received the housing department as before. The departments of geriatrics and citizenship were left to the FPÖ.
The coalition between the ÖVP and the Greens broke up in May 2012 on the question of the purchase of the Reininghaus grounds, in which the city of Graz wanted to buy the 54 hectare former brewery site of the Reininghaus brewery in the west of Graz from private investors for 75 million euros. While Mayor Nagl wanted to hold a referendum in June 2012, the Greens, like other parties, had advocated a date in autumn 2012. Nagl then terminated the coalition. In addition to the question of the reasons for the Reininghaus, there were also differences of opinion on the issues of the environmental zone and the Mur power station.
Downsizing of the municipal council
At the municipal council meeting on October 21, 2010, the “Application to change the statute of the provincial capital Graz 1967” was resolved, whereby the application led to a reduction of the municipal council from 56 to 48 council seats and a reduction of the city senate seats from 9 to 7. Points 1 and 3, which included the request to the state to downsize the city senate and the effectiveness from the next municipal council election, were unanimously decided, while point 2, which dealt with downsizing the municipal council, was only accepted with a majority. The statute of the provincial capital Graz was subsequently adopted by the Styrian state parliament on November 22, 2011 as the "L-VG amendment to abolish the proportional representation system".
Suffrage
In the municipal and district elections in Graz in 2012, all persons who had their main residence in Graz on the cut-off date (September 14, 2012), were citizens of an EU country and were 16 on the day of the election were actively eligible to vote. All citizens of the member states of the European Union who were actively entitled to vote themselves and who had reached the age of 18 on election day could also exercise the right to stand. Union citizens who did not have Austrian citizenship could only be elected if they submitted a written declaration that, under the law of their home member state, they had not lost eligibility as a result of a criminal decision. The active right to vote in the district council elections could only be exercised by the community residents who were entitled to vote in the district council in the district in which they had their main residence. In addition to the general conditions, the passive right to vote for the district representative election was also linked to the fact that the candidate has his main residence in the relevant district or works here. At the same time the elections for the migrant advisory board were held. The same criteria applied, but only people who were citizens of a non-EU country were eligible to vote.
Ballot
Those eligible to vote were able to cast their votes around a week before the actual election day. On Friday, November 16, 17 polling stations were open between 1 p.m. and 8 p.m. On presentation of an official photo ID, the polling station could be chosen freely. On the actual election day, the polling stations were open between 7:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. The option of early voting was originally introduced in place of the postal vote, which was decided in 2007. In the Graz municipal council elections, voting by voting card was also possible at home and abroad. The 6,643 voting cards issued were issued in the run-up to November 25th and could then be handed in by postal voting or during a home visit by the electoral authority. The votes cast by postal vote had to reach the city electoral authority together with an affidavit by November 25th before the closing of the last polling station in order to be counted as valid votes.
Votes were cast with one ballot paper each for the election to the municipal council and for the election to the district council. On the ballot papers, voters could also give a candidate from the elected party a preferred vote , with the eligible candidates being posted in the voting booth.
Campaigning parties (official list name)
- List 1, Social Democratic Party of Austria (SPÖ)
After Deputy Mayor Walter Ferk withdrew after the municipal council election in 2008, Martina Schröck took over the role of SPÖ mayor in September 2011. She was the sixth person in this role within a year and a half. Schröck finally led the SPÖ as the top candidate in the municipal council election, with the goal of achieving at least 20% of the votes.
- List 2, Graz People's Party - Mayor Nagl (ÖVP)
The ÖVP went into the 2012 municipal council election with the incumbent mayor Siegfried Nagl . Mayor Nagl formulated achieving an absolute majority as his election goal.
- List 3, Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ)
After the top candidate for the 2008 municipal council elections, Susanne Winter , withdrew from Graz city politics in 2009, Mario Eustacchio took over the role of party leader and city council in the Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ) of the city of Graz. As a result, in 2012 he also ran as the FPÖ's top candidate in the 2012 municipal council elections and stated that his election goal was “15 percent plus”. The FPÖ's election campaign topics were “Politics with common sense” and were directed primarily against the policies of Mayor Nagl, whom the FPÖ accused of “7 deadly sins”. The FPÖ campaigned against driving bans and environmental zones and spoke out against the purchase of the Reininghaus grounds. Furthermore, the FPÖ focused on the issue of security and advocated a change in immigration policy, whereby the FPÖ understood, among other things, the prevention of mosques, German compulsory instead of mother tongue lessons and integration as the responsibility of the immigrants.
- List 4, The Greens - Alternative List Graz (GREEN)
As in 2008, the Greens - The Green Alternative (GRÜNE) started with Lisa Rücker, who is now Vice Mayor . After the break of the black-green coalition in Graz, she sought second place and participation in the government. Rücker did not rule out a new coalition with Mayor Siegfried Nagl, but he considered this difficult to imagine. In terms of content, under the motto “Full power for Graz”, the Greens focused primarily on the topics of gentle mobility, the fight against fine dust, as well as an “open city” and “incorruptible politics”.
- List 5, Communist Party of Austria - Elke Kahr (KPÖ)
The Communist Party of Austria (KPÖ) sent Elke Kahr as the top candidate for the municipal council election. Under the motto “We are all Graz”, the KPÖ focused primarily on housing and social issues. Kahr wants a guarantee from the city government that no community apartments will be sold and that the renovation funds will be increased. In addition, the deposit fund should be expanded and the rent subsidy secured. In addition, 500 community apartments are to be built within the next municipal council period and operating costs are to be frozen. Kahr named the election goal to get more votes in order to keep the previous seat of the city council in the downsized city senate.
- List 6, BZÖ - List Gerald Grosz (BZÖ)
The Alliance for Austria's Future (BZÖ) occurred as early as 2008 with the top candidates Gerald Grosz on. In particular, he opposed the community fees and levies for restaurateurs, advocated a reduction in fine dust without restricting motorists and criticized what he saw as a lacking, functioning traffic concept. At the start of the election campaign, alliance chairman Josef Bucher also criticized the fact that “all politicians are under the yoke of banks and interest groups” and that the BZÖ must therefore oppose the power of the “system maintainer”. As an election target, Bucher gave, in addition to the return to the municipal council, the acquisition of further mandates.
- List 7, Christian Party - Grössler (CP-G)
- List 8, Pirate Party Graz (PIRATE)
- List 9, energy-saving power plant
List leader energy consultant Rainer Maichin takes initiatives to avoid unnecessary electricity consumption.
- List 10, Betty Baloo Gang (BBB)
According to its own definition, an “action art community with a socio-political background”.
- List 11, We Voters - We Tackle It - We Want Our Right (WE)
Election results
Local council election
| Political party | Results 2012 | Results 2008 | Differences | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eligible voters | 209,805 | 198.020 | +11,785 | ||||||
| be right | % | Mand. | be right | % | Mand. | be right | % | Mand. | |
| total | 116,381 | 55.47% | 114,654 | 57.90% | 1,727 | -2.43% | |||
| Invalid | 1,969 | 1,879 | |||||||
| Valid | 114,412 | 112,775 | |||||||
| SPÖ | 17,517 | 15.31% | 7th | 22,266 | 19.74% | 11 | -4,749 | -4.43% | -4 |
| ÖVP | 38,602 | 33.74% | 17th | 43,274 | 38.37% | 23 | -4,672 | -4.63% | –6 |
| FPÖ | 15,733 | 13.75% | 7th | 12,235 | 10.85% | 6th | +3,498 | + 2.90% | +1 |
| GREEN | 13,889 | 12.14% | 6th | 16,416 | 14.56% | 8th | -2,527 | -2.42% | -2 |
| KPÖ | 22,725 | 19.86% | 10 | 12,611 | 11.18% | 6th | +10,114 | + 8.68% | +4 |
| BZÖ | 1,530 | 1.34% | 0 | 4,857 | 4.31% | 2 | -3,327 | -2.97% | -2 |
| CP-G | 619 | 0.54% | 0 | nk | nk | nk | +619 | +0.54% | ± 0 |
| PIRATE | 3,086 | 2.70% | 1 | nk | nk | nk | +3,086 | + 2.70% | +1 |
| Saving power plant | 214 | 0.19% | 0 | nk | nk | nk | +214 | + 0.19% | ± 0 |
| BBB | 192 | 0.17% | 0 | nk | nk | nk | +192 | + 0.17% | ± 0 |
| WE | 305 | 0.27% | 0 | nk | nk | nk | +305 | + 0.27% | ± 0 |
| Wegscheidler | nk | nk | nk | 231 | 0.20% | 0 | -231 | -0.20% | ± 0 |
| ÖABP | nk | nk | nk | 556 | 0.49% | 0 | -556 | -0.49% | ± 0 |
| SALT | nk | nk | nk | 218 | 0.19% | 0 | -218 | -0.19% | ± 0 |
| ZPA | nk | nk | nk | 111 | 0.10% | 0 | -111 | -0.10% | ± 0 |
Individual evidence
- ↑ Wiener Zeitung Online “Option in Land und Bund” - In Graz, the ÖVP and the Greens agreed on a joint coalition , March 3, 2008
- ^ Diepresse.com “Styria: ÖVP announces the coalition in Graz”, May 30, 2012
- ^ "Coalition burst. Nagl: "I want to go a new way now" ". Kleine Zeitung , May 31, 2012, accessed June 1, 2020 . .
- ↑ City of Graz ( Memento of the original from November 29, 2012 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.
- ↑ City of Graz ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Elections of the municipal council, the district councils and the migrant advisory council Graz 2012, announcement of September 14th 2012
- ↑ Die Presse Online “Democracy: The mail is really going in Graz”, 14 January 2008
- ↑ Kleine Zeitung Online "Graz election: 6,643 voting cards were issued" November 23, 2012
- ↑ City of Graz ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Voter knowledge: 2008 municipal council election
- ^ Diepresse.com “An SPÖ without a May march: The suffering of the Graz Reds”, April 29, 2012
- ↑ ORF Styria "Martina Schröck: Young, new, successful?", November 19, 2012
- ^ ORF Steiermark "Graz election: Nagl wants absolute majority", October 13, 2012
- ^ Basic program of the Grazer Grünen (ALG). Local council election 2012 ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF; 783 kB)
- ^ ORF Steiermark “Graz election: Greens want second place”, October 11, 2012
- ^ Grazer Grüner , last accessed on November 25, 2012
- ^ ORF Styria "Graz election: campaign start at KPÖ", September 14, 2012
- ^ ORF Steiermark "Graz election: BZÖ relies on sober election campaign", October 20, 2012
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_H7h_dpBcF8 Einsparkraftwerk_1 or waste of electricity by Einsparkraftwerk stopped, youtube video, May 29, 2012. Retrieved July 17, 2015.
- ↑ https://www.facebook.com/BettyBalooBande?fref=nf Betty Baloo Gang, community, Facebook presence, since October 28, 2012. Retrieved July 17, 2015.
- ^ Graz: Municipal Council Election 2012. (No longer available online.) Graz.at, November 25, 2012, formerly in the original ; Retrieved November 26, 2012 . ( Page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
