2002 Austrian legislative election

Early parliamentary elections were held in Austria on 24 November 2002,^[1] after internal divisions in the Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ) culminating in the Knittelfeld Putsch led to the resignation of several leading FPÖ members. The Austrian People's Party (ÖVP) emerged as the largest party, winning 79 of the 183 seats, the first time it had been the largest party in the National Council since 1966.^[2] It continued its coalition government with the FPÖ, which lost almost two-thirds of its seats.^[3] Voter turnout was 84%.^[4]

2002 Austrian legislative election

← 1999 24 November 2002 2006 →
All 183 seats in the National Council 92 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	84.27% ( 3.85 pp)
First party Second party   Leader Wolfgang Schüssel Alfred Gusenbauer Party ÖVP SPÖ Last election 26.91%, 52 seats 33.15%, 65 seats Seats won 79 69 Seat change 27 4 Popular vote 2,076,833 1,792,499 Percentage 42.30% 36.51% Swing 15.39 pp 3.36 pp   Third party Fourth party   Leader Herbert Haupt Alexander Van der Bellen Party FPÖ Greens Last election 26.91%, 52 seats 7.40%, 14 seats Seats won 18 17 Seat change 34 3 Popular vote 491,328 464,980 Percentage 10.01% 9.47% Swing 16.90 pp 2.07 pp
Seats won by state Popular vote by state
Chancellor before election Wolfgang Schüssel ÖVP Elected Chancellor Wolfgang Schüssel ÖVP

Contesting parties

The table below lists parties represented in the 21st National Council.

Name			Ideology	Leader	1999 result
					Votes (%)	Seats
	SPÖ	Social Democratic Party of Austria Sozialdemokratische Partei Österreichs	Social democracy	Alfred Gusenbauer	33.2%	65 / 183
	FPÖ	Freedom Party of Austria Freiheitliche Partei Österreichs	Right-wing populism Euroscepticism	Herbert Haupt	26.9%	52 / 183
	ÖVP	Austrian People's Party Österreichische Volkspartei	Christian democracy	Wolfgang Schüssel	26.9%	52 / 183
	GRÜNE	The Greens Die Grünen	Green politics	Alexander Van der Bellen	7.4%	14 / 183

Results

Party		Votes	%	Seats	+/–
	Austrian People's Party	2,076,833	42.30	79	+27
	Social Democratic Party of Austria	1,792,499	36.51	69	+4
	Freedom Party of Austria	491,328	10.01	18	–34
	The Greens	464,980	9.47	17	+3
	Liberal Forum	48,083	0.98	0	0
	Communist Party of Austria	27,568	0.56	0	0
	Socialist Left Party	3,906	0.08	0	New
	The Democrats	2,439	0.05	0	New
	Christian Voters Community [de]	2,009	0.04	0	0
Total		4,909,645	100.00	183	0
Valid votes		4,909,645	98.54
Invalid/blank votes		72,616	1.46
Total votes		4,982,261	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		5,912,592	84.27
Source: Interior Ministry

Results by state

State	ÖVP	SPÖ	FPÖ	Grüne	Others
Burgenland	42.4	45.8	6.4	4.7	0.7
Carinthia	30.5	38.3	23.6	6.2	1.4
Lower Austria	47.8	36.8	6.9	7.2	1.3
Upper Austria	42.6	37.0	10.4	8.7	1.3
Salzburg	46.7	30.8	10.7	10.4	1.4
Styria	44.6	37.0	9.6	7.0	1.8
Tyrol	51.9	24.5	10.0	11.6	2.0
Vorarlberg	49.2	20.1	13.0	14.5	3.2
Vienna	30.7	43.8	8.0	15.1	2.4
Austria	42.3	36.5	10.0	9.5	1.7
Source: Austrian Interior Ministry