2024 Vorarlberg state election

The Vorarlberg state election of 2024 was held in the Austrian state of Vorarlberg on 13 October 2024.^[1]

2024 Vorarlberg state election

← 2019 13 October 2024 2029 →
All 36 seats in the Landtag of Vorarlberg 19 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	185,182 (68.1%) 6.7pp
First party Second party Third party   Leader Markus Wallner Christof Bitschi Daniel Zadra Party ÖVP FPÖ Greens Last election 17 seats, 43.5% 5 seats, 13.9% 7 seats, 18.9% Seats won 15 11 4 Seat change 2 6 3 Popular vote 70,638 51,639 22,926 Percentage 38.3% 28.0% 12.4% Swing 5.2pp 14.1pp 6.5pp   Fourth party Fifth party   Leader Mario Leiter Claudia Gamon Party SPÖ NEOS Last election 4 seats, 9.5% 3 seats, 8.5% Seats won 3 3 Seat change 1 0 Popular vote 16,713 16,477 Percentage 9.1% 8.9% Swing 0.4pp 0.4pp
ÖVP (black) and FPÖ (blue) results by municipality. Darker shades indicate a stronger vote share.
Governor before election Markus Wallner ÖVP Elected Governor Markus Wallner ÖVP

Background

In the 2019 state election, the ÖVP was the strongest party with 43.5% of the vote, but fell short of the absolute mandate majority. With 18.9%, the Greens achieved their best election result to date in a Vorarlberg state election and became the second strongest party for the first time. The FPÖ was the only party to suffer losses and fell to third place with 13.9%. The SPÖ was able to recover minimally, reaching 9.5%, while NEOS obtained 8.5% of the vote. The small parties "Home to all Cultures" (HAK) and "Xi – Future Opportunity" were able to obtain results above 1%, but ultimately failed to reach the 5% threshold to enter parliament.^[2]

The ÖVP decided to continue the previous coalition with the Greens after negotiations that lasted less than two weeks.^[3] In the constituent session of the Landtag on 13 October 2019, the state government under Governor Markus Wallner (ÖVP) was sworn in.^[4]

Contesting parties

Parties already in the Landtag

No.	Logo	Name[5]	Shortform	Leader
1		Governor Markus Wallner – Vorarlberg People's Party	VP	Markus Wallner
2		The Greens – The Green Alternative Vorarlberg	GRÜNE	Daniel Zadra [de]
3		List Christof Bitschi – Freedom Party Vorarlberg	FPÖ	Christof Bitschi [de]
4		Mario Leiter – Social Democratic Party Vorarlberg	SPÖ	Mario Leiter [de]
5		NEOS – The New Vorarlberg	NEOS	Claudia Gamon

Parties not in the Landtag

For a party to contest in the election, they have to enter at least on list in one of the four districts of Vorarlberg. To be able to do so, they need 100 validated signatures per district.^[6] The deadline for entering was 23 August 2024 at 5pm CEST.^[7]

The following parties have fulfilled the requirements and will appear on the ballot:^[8]

No.	Logo	Name[5]	Shortform	Leader	Ideology
6		Xi – HaK – G!LT[A 1]	X	Chris Alge	Big tent Environmentalism (Xi) Multiculturalism (HaK) Anti-establishment (G!LT)
7		We - Platform for Families and Child protection	WIR	Christoph Alton	Familialism Social conservatism
8		Communist Party of Austria	KPÖ	Sascha Kulasevic	Communism Socialism
9		The other Vorarlberg	ANDRS	Bernhard Amann	Eco-socialism

1. Electoral alliance between Xi – Future Opportunity [de], Home to all Cultures [de] and My Vote Counts!

Non-contesting parties

A participation of the following parties have been speculated, yet they declined and did not enter the election:^[9]

• BIER Partei (Beer Party)
• MFG Austria – People Freedom Fundamental Rights
• Der Wandel (The Change)

Opinion polling

Polling firm	Fieldwork date	Sample size	ÖVP	Grüne	FPÖ	SPÖ	NEOS	Others	Lead
2024 state election	13 Oct 2024	–	38.3	12.3	28.0	9.1	8.8	3.2	10.2
Spectra/VN[10][11]	14–29 Aug 2024	501	31	18	28	12	10	2	3
Peter Hajek/NEOS Vorarlberg[12]	Dec 2023	–	30	14	29	12	10	3	1
Berndt/FPÖ Vorarlberg[12]	Nov 2023	702	33	13	27	13	10	5	6
Berndt/FPÖ Vorarlberg[12]	17 Oct–3 Nov 2022	503	29	14	20	13	12	12	9
Gallup/VN[12]	21 May 2022[a]	500	32	15	17	12	11	13	15
Gallup/VN[12]	23 Mar–10 Apr 2022	500	36	14	16	12	11	11	20
Berndt/VN[12]	12–15 Oct 2021	503	36	15	16	9	10	14	20
2019 state election	13 Oct 2019	–	43.5	18.9	13.9	9.5	8.5	5.7	17.8

Result

Party		Votes	%	+/−	Seats	+/−
	Austrian People's Party (ÖVP)	70,638	38.3	–5.2	15	–2
	Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ)	51,639	28.0	+14.1	11	+6
	The Greens – The Green Alternative (GRÜNE)	22,926	12.4	–6.5	4	–3
	Social Democratic Party of Austria (SPÖ)	16,713	9.1	–0.4	3	–1
	NEOS – The New Austria (NEOS)	16,477	8.9	+0.4	3	±0
	Xi – HaK – G!LT (X)	2,249	1.2	New	0	New
	WIR – Platform for Families and Child Protection (WIR)	1,459	0.8	+0.1	0	±0
	Communist Party of Austria (KPÖ)	1.385	0.8	New	0	New
	The other Vorarlberg (ANDRS)	934	0.5	New	0	New
Invalid/blank votes		762	0.4	–	–	–
Total		185,182	100	–	36	0
Registered voters/turnout		271,882	68.1	+6.7	–	–
Source: Vorarlberg Government

Popular vote ÖVP   38.3% FPÖ   28.0% GRÜNE   12.4% SPÖ   9.1% NEOS   8.9% Other   3.3%

Landtag seats ÖVP   41.67% FPÖ   30.56% GRÜNE   11.11% SPÖ   8.33% NEOS   8.33%

Results by constituency

Constituency	ÖVP		FPÖ		GRÜNE		SPÖ		NEOS		Others	Total seats
	%	S	%	S	%	S	%	S	%	S	%
Bludenz	41.8		29.8		8.5		10.4		7.2		2.2
Bregenz	40.6		26.1		12.2		8.6		9.2		3.1
Dornbirn	32.2		29.9		14.4		9.9		9.7		4.0
Feldkirch	37.9		27.8		13.7		8.2		9.1		3.5
Remaining seats
Total	38.3	15	28.0	11	12.4	4	9.1	3	8.9	3	3.3	36
Source: Vorarlberg Government

Aftermath

Government formation

On 16 October, Governor Wallner (ÖVP) announced exploration talks with the FPÖ. He wanted quick coalition talks – with a conclusion in early November – so that the new ÖVP-FPÖ government could be sworn in when the new Landtag convened on 6 November.^[13]

The ÖVP and FPÖ formed a governing coalition, which was sworn in on 6 November.^[14][15] Wallner was sworn in as governor on 11 November.^[16]

Notes

1. Date of publication of poll; fieldwork date unknown.