YOUR GUIDE TO VOTING IN AUSTRIA

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When to Vote

9 June 2024

Mark your calendars!

Anyone aged 16 or over on the election day can vote if they have residency in Austria and hold either Austrian citizenship or the citizenship of another EU country. If you are an Austrian living abroad, you can also vote, so keep reading to learn how!

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Do I have an obligation to Vote?

No, there is no legal obligation to vote. But, you know…use your vote anyway!

Where can I vote?

Illustration showing different ways to vote, by mail, in person or online.

If you are a Austrian citizen voting in Austria

If you live in Austria, check your official home address, because you can usually vote at the polling station close to where you live. If it happens that you are not close to your place of residence, you can also vote at another polling station or by post, but just make sure you order your ballot in advance from your municipality and send it in a sealed envelope in due time. And guess what?! You don’t have to registeras the authorities will automatically do it for you.

If you are an Austrian citizen voting from another EU country

Do you live abroad?  To vote, you need to register. Once you do so, your registration will be valid for ten years. You can learn more here. You can hand your ballot in at any Austrian embassy, consulate or honorary consulate, which will forward it free of charge to the electoral authority.

Deadline to register: you have to register by 25 April 2024.

If you are an Austrian citizen voting from a country outside the EU

The same rules of registration apply when voting outside the European Union. 

If you are EU citizen voting in Austria

As a legal resident in Austria, you can of course vote there! Make sure to register in the municipality where you have your official residence, to be on the voting list. Your registration will be valid as long as you reside in the country.

Deadline to register: you have to register by 26 March 2024.

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Voting Online
Can I vote online?
NO ✖ Unfortunately you cannot vote online in Austria.
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Voting by Mail
Can I vote by mail?
Good news! YES ✓ you can vote by mail in Austria. All you have to do is to order a ballot in advance and you can cast your vote immediately after receiving it.
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Voting by Proxy
Can I vote by proxy?
NO ✖ Unfortunately you cannot vote by proxy in Austria.
Picture showing a girl with locomotory disability in a wheelchair, and a bullet with someone putting a ballot in a box.

Voting & accessibility

Do you have a disability or an illness? If you cannot go to the polling station, there are forms of assistance available:

  • you can choose someone to assist you in filling the ballot
  • you can request a mobile electoral commission
  • ballot paper templates are also available
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fun facts

  • Austria joined the European Union on 1 January 1995.
  • Austria will have 20 members of the European Parliament after the 2024 European Elections, with one more than the previous elections in 2019.
  • There is only one national constituency and everyone votes for the same list across the country.
  • Austria uses preferential voting - gives voters the option to indicate their preference on a party list.
  • The threshold for the European elections is at least 4% of the votes.
  • Its flag is one of the oldest in the world, being used for the first time in 1230.
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