# 2019 European Parliament election in Austria

An election was held in Austria on 26 May 2019 to elect the country's 18 members of the European Parliament. The Austrian People's Party (ÖVP) gained two seats for a total of seven, while the Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ) and The Greens each lost one.
The election took place nine days after the start of the Ibiza affair, which led to the resignation of Vice-Chancellor and FPÖ leader Heinz-Christian Strache and the collapse of the federal ÖVP–FPÖ government. The European election was seen as a victory for the ÖVP and a defeat for the FPÖ, who were forecasted to perform substantially better.

## Contesting parties

The table below lists parties elected in the 2014 European Parliament election.
| Name | Name | Name | Ideology | Lead candidate | 2014 result | 2014 result |
| Name | Name | Name | Ideology | Lead candidate | Votes (%) | Seats |
| | ÖVP | Austrian People's Party Österreichische Volkspartei | Christian democracy | Othmar Karas | 27.0% | 5 / 18 |
| | SPÖ | Social Democratic Party of Austria Sozialdemokratische Partei Österreichs | Social democracy | Eugen Freund | 24.1% | 5 / 18 |
| | FPÖ | Freedom Party of Austria Freiheitliche Partei Österreichs | Right-wing populism Euroscepticism | Harald Vilimsky | 19.7% | 4 / 18 |
| | GRÜNE | The Greens – The Green Alternative Die Grünen – Die Grüne Alternative | Green politics | Werner Kogler | 14.5% | 3 / 18 |
| | NEOS | NEOS – The New Austria and Liberal Forum NEOS – The New Austria and Liberal Forum | Liberalism Pro-Europeanism | Claudia Gamon | 8.1% | 1 / 18 |
Seven parties contested the election. In addition to the five already represented in the European Parliament, two more collected enough signatures to appear on the ballot:
* KPÖ Plus – European Left, Open List (KPÖ)
* EUROPE NOW! – Initiative Johannes Voggenhuber (EUROPA)

## Facts and statistics

According to final numbers, a total of 6,416,202 people aged 16+ are eligible to vote in this election, an increase from 6,410,602 people in the 2014 election. 3,312,745 women (2014: 3,322,498) and 3,103,457 men (2014: 3,088,104) are eligible to vote. Included in these totals are 44,718 Austrians living abroad and 38,668 foreign EU-citizens living in Austria.
Poll opening and closing times on election day are set individually by each municipality. Poll closing times can be no later than 5 pm. Results will be released at 11 pm (after Italy closes their polls).
Voters are allowed to cast their vote by postal ballot. Postal ballots have to arrive at the district voting commission no later than 5 pm on election day and will be counted on Monday, 27 May – starting at 9 am.
A total of 686,249 postal ballots have been requested by voters, up from 444,057 – an increase of 55% – compared with the 2014 election.

## Campaign

In the lead up to the 2019 European Parliament election in Austria, in what The Guardian described as "doubling down" on rhetoric ahead of the election, FPO Vice Chancellor of Austria Heinz-Christian Strache endorsed the far-right conspiracy of the great replacement. He claimed that "population replacement" was real, adding: "We don’t want to become a minority in our own country".

## Ibiza affair

The Ibiza affair (German: Ibiza-Affäre), also known as Ibiza-gate, was a political scandal in Austria involving Heinz-Christian Strache, the former Vice-Chancellor of Austria and leader of the Freedom Party (FPÖ), Johann Gudenus, a deputy leader of the Freedom Party, and both the Austrian Freedom Party and Austria's political landscape in general.
The scandal started on 17 May 2019 with the publication of a secretly recorded video of a meeting in Ibiza, Spain, in July 2017, which appears to show the then opposition politicians Strache and Gudenus discussing their party's underhanded practices and intentions. In the video, both politicians appeared receptive to proposals by a woman posing as the niece of a Russian oligarch, discussing how to provide the FPÖ with positive news coverage in return for government contracts. Strache and Gudenus also hinted at corrupt political practices involving numerous other wealthy donors to the FPÖ in Europe and elsewhere.
The scandal caused the resignation of Strache and Gudenus, the collapse of the Austrian governing ÖVP-FPÖ coalition on 18 May 2019 and the announcement of an early legislative election in September.

## Opinion polls
### Vote share

| Polling firm | Fieldwork date | Sample size | ÖVP | SPÖ | FPÖ | Greens | NEOS | JETZT | KPÖ+/ Others | Lead |
| 2019 election | 26 May 2019 | – | 34.6 | 23.9 | 17.2 | 14.1 | 8.4 | 1.0 | 0.8 | 10.7 |
| SORA/ARGE Wahlen/Hajek | 21–26 May 2019 | 5,200 | 34.5 | 23.5 | 17.5 | 13.5 | 8 | 2 | 1 | 11 |
| Research Affairs | 9–15 May 2019 | 1,000 | 29 | 27 | 23 | 8 | 9 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Unique Research/Peter Hajek Archived 11 May 2019 at the Wayback Machine | 29 Apr–9 May 2019 | 2,405 | 30 | 27 | 23 | 10 | 8 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| OGM | 29 Apr–2 May 2019 | 860 | 30.5 | 27.5 | 24.5 | 7 | 7 | 1.5 | 2 | 3 |
| Research Affairs | 25 Apr–1 May 2019 | 1,002 | 29 | 27 | 23 | 7 | 10 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Research Affairs | 11–17 Apr 2019 | 1,007 | 29 | 27 | 22 | 7 | 10 | 2 | 3 | 2 |
| Market | 12–15 Apr 2019 | 803 | 30 | 28 | 20 | 8 | 9 | 2 | 3 | 2 |
| Research Affairs | 28 Mar–3 Apr 2019 | 1,001 | 29 | 26 | 22 | 8 | 9 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| INSA | 28 Mar–1 Apr 2019 | 1,000 | 28 | 28 | 25 | 9 | 6 | 2 | 2 | Tie |
| Research Affairs | 14–20 Mar 2019 | 1,002 | 28 | 26 | 23 | 8 | 8 | 3 | 4 | 2 |
| Research Affairs | 26 Feb–6 Mar 2019 | 1,001 | 28 | 26 | 23 | 9 | 9 | 2 | 3 | 2 |
| INSA | 27 Feb–1 Mar 2019 | 1,000 | 29 | 25 | 24 | 9 | 8 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
| Market | 18–20 Feb 2019 | 804 | 30 | 25 | 21 | 8 | 11 | 2 | 3 | 5 |
| Research Affairs | 13–20 Feb 2019 | 1,005 | 27 | 26 | 23 | 7 | 9 | 3 | 5 | 1 |
| Research Affairs | 13–20 Feb 2019 | 1,005 | 27 | 26 | 23 | 9 | 9 | 2 | 4 | 1 |
| Research Affairs | 31 Jan–6 Feb 2019 | 1,002 | 27 | 26 | 22 | 7 | 10 | 4 | 4 | 1 |
| Research Affairs | 17–23 Jan 2019 | 1,002 | 27 | 26 | 22 | 8 | 9 | 3 | 5 | 1 |
| Research Affairs | 3–9 Jan 2019 | 1,002 | 27 | 26 | 23 | 8 | 9 | 2 | 5 | 1 |
| Research Affairs | 6–12 Dec 2018 | 1,001 | 27 | 26 | 23 | 7 | 9 | 2 | 6 | 1 |
| Research Affairs | 22–28 Nov 2018 | 1,001 | 27 | 26 | 24 | 7 | 8 | 3 | 5 | 1 |
| Research Affairs | 8–14 Nov 2018 | 1,001 | 27 | 26 | 24 | 7 | 8 | 3 | 5 | 1 |
| Research Affairs | 11–17 Oct 2018 | 1,001 | 27 | 26 | 24 | 6 | 9 | 3 | 5 | 1 |
| Research Affairs | 27 Sep–3 Oct 2018 | 1,003 | 27 | 28 | 23 | 5 | 9 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| Research Affairs | 19–20 Sep 2018 | 506 | 28 | 28 | 24 | 5 | 9 | 1 | 5 | Tie |
| Research Affairs | 30 Aug–5 Sep 2018 | 1,002 | 28 | 27 | 24 | 5 | 9 | 2 | 5 | 1 |
| 2014 election | 25 May 2014 | – | 27.0 | 24.1 | 19.7 | 14.5 | 8.1 | – | 6.5 | 2.9 |

## Results

The numbers in brackets denote changes in seat distribution caused by Brexit.
| Party | Party | Votes | % | Seats | Seats | Seats | Seats |
| Party | Party | Votes | % | Elected | +/– | Post-Brexit | +/– |
| | Austrian People's Party | 1,305,956 | 34.55 | 7 | +2 | 7 | 0 |
| | Social Democratic Party of Austria | 903,151 | 23.89 | 5 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| | Freedom Party of Austria | 650,114 | 17.20 | 3 | –1 | 3 | 0 |
| | The Greens – The Green Alternative | 532,193 | 14.08 | 2 | –1 | 3 | +1 |
| | NEOS – The New Austria and Liberal Forum | 319,024 | 8.44 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| | EUROPE NOW! – Initiative Johannes Voggenhuber | 39,239 | 1.04 | 0 | New | 0 | 0 |
| | KPÖ Plus – European Left, Open List | 30,087 | 0.80 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | Total | 3,779,764 | 100.00 | 18 | 0 | 19 | +1 |
| Valid votes | Valid votes | 3,779,764 | 98.57 | | | | |
| Invalid/blank votes | Invalid/blank votes | 54,898 | 1.43 | | | | |
| Total votes | Total votes | 3,834,662 | 100.00 | | | | |
| Registered voters/turnout | Registered voters/turnout | 6,416,177 | 59.77 | | | | |
| Source: Interior Ministry ||||||||

### Results by state

| State | ÖVP | SPÖ | FPÖ | Grüne | NEOS | Europa | KPÖ+ | Turnout |
| Burgenland | 35.4 | 33.0 | 17.5 | 7.8 | 5.2 | 0.7 | 0.4 | 66.2 |
| Carinthia | 28.9 | 30.4 | 21.6 | 9.9 | 7.7 | 0.9 | 0.6 | 52.1 |
| Lower Austria | 40.1 | 22.3 | 17.8 | 10.5 | 7.8 | 0.9 | 0.6 | 67.2 |
| Upper Austria | 35.1 | 25.0 | 18.1 | 13.4 | 7.0 | 0.8 | 0.6 | 62.1 |
| Salzburg | 43.1 | 18.2 | 14.5 | 14.1 | 8.3 | 1.1 | 0.7 | 57.8 |
| Styria | 35.7 | 21.4 | 19.7 | 13.3 | 7.8 | 0.9 | 1.1 | 56.7 |
| Tyrol | 42.6 | 15.5 | 15.2 | 16.3 | 8.8 | 1.0 | 0.6 | 53.2 |
| Vorarlberg | 34.6 | 13.5 | 14.1 | 18.8 | 17.3 | 1.2 | 0.6 | 53.0 |
| Vienna | 21.4 | 30.3 | 14.4 | 20.8 | 10.2 | 1.6 | 1.3 | 58.7 |
| Austria | 34.6 | 23.9 | 17.2 | 14.1 | 8.4 | 1.0 | 0.8 | 59.8 |
| Source: Austrian Interior Ministry Archived 30 September 2019 at the Wayback Machine |||||||||