A guide to voting in Vienna

Because of the upcoming elections for the state parliament and the city council of Vienna, and also for the district council of each of Vienna’s 23 districts we collected some information to guide you through the election process. As for those people who don’t have an Austrian citizenship we found out what, where and under which circumstances you are allowed vote in Vienna.

The parliament of Vienna passes the state laws, which are also the laws for the city of Vienna and is being elected every five years. You’re allowed to vote for the city and the state if you have an Austrian Citizenship, are living in Vienna and have reached the age of 16. If you live in Vienna but you just have an EU-citizenship you can only vote for district councils. An exception is if you lost your right to vote as a part of the punishment of having committed a crime against the state.

By the end of September you should have gotten official information about the polling station nearest to your main residence by mail. On election day you have the right to cast your vote in one of 1500 polling stations, which isn’t mandatory. It can happen that you will be out of town at the time of the elections and you want to cast your vote, you can send your vote by mail with the official votecard.

 For more information about how the austrian system works you find here and if you need to know where you can vote click here.

Why you should vote for the district council ?

The elections for the district councils in Vienna will be on the 11^th of October, 2015.

But the question is, what are the tasks of the district council?

The district council decides about stuff that has something to do with the environment of the city, planning new buildings, streets and where the new pedestrians zone needs to be build. They also make important decisions about finances.

So don´t hesitate and VOTE. 

Pass Egal Wahl

The ‘‘Pass Egal Wahl“ is an opportunity to elect for people living in Austria without Austrian citizenship.

•              When ? : Tuesday, 6th of October, 2015 from 15:00 till 20:00 o'clock

•              Where ? : Friedrich-Schmidt-Platz 1 (near the U2-Station Rathaus), 1010 Vienna

•              Who ? : Everyone who is older than 16 and their main place of residence is in Vienna

•              Bring : passport or any id card

The more people vote in this symbolic election, the stronger their statement against the exclusion from the democratic process will be.