Miscalculated again?

SPÖ mistakenly called on 14-year-olds to vote in EU elections

EU top candidate Andreas Schieder mistakenly addressed young people who are not yet allowed to vote.

(Bild: APA/GEORG HOCHMUTH)

In the run-up to the EU elections on Sunday, the SPÖ is still busy canvassing for votes. The SPÖ with top candidate Andreas Schieder wants to appeal to first-time voters in particular - but made an embarrassing mistake: advertising letters were mistakenly sent to 14 and 15-year-olds.

The SPÖ sent letters to young people in several federal states calling on them to vote on June 9. They are addressed by their first names and asked to mark Andreas Schieder with a cross. "Until now, others have decided your future without asking you. You can change that now," the letters say (see below).

Voting only at 16
Problem: It's not that far yet. The recipients are still too young to be allowed to go to the polls on Sunday. In Austria, you can only vote if you turn 16 on election day at the latest.

A mother also contacted the "Krone" newspaper. "The SPÖ is sending out first-time voter letters to young people who are not yet eligible to vote. My daughter (14 years old) received one, as did friends of the same age," the woman wrote.

Several young people under 16 were sent this letter.

(Bild: Screenshot/privat)

She also asked important questions: "I am very interested to know where this - and false - data comes from? What about data protection? Doesn't the SPÖ know the right to vote?" said the mother.

"Happened by mistake"
The sending of the letters to 14 and 15-year-olds "happened by mistake", Sigrid Rosenberger, spokesperson for EU top candidate Andreas Schieder, is quoted by the Kleine Zeitung.

In order to send direct advertising messages to first-time voters, the current voter registry - the list of all eligible voters - was requested from the Ministry of the Interior, Katharina Kubicek, spokesperson for the SPÖ federal party, explained in a statement to the newspaper.

This is "a standard procedure before every election. As a campaigning party, we are allowed to access it." Young people who have reached the age of 14 before January 1, 2024 are registered in the electoral register. According to the Ministry of the Interior, no one who only turns 16 on election day or shortly before should be overlooked.

Party apologized
This data set was used - and under-16s were also contacted. It was "not our intention", the SPÖ spokeswoman said, that the group of people included in the letters was too broad. Parents who had asked the party about the letters had "of course apologized for the misunderstanding".