EU election on Sunday

All scrutineers receive 100 euros for the first time

Symbolic image

(Bild: Hölzl Roland)

Around 10,000 scrutineers will ensure that the EU election in Styria runs smoothly and orderly on Sunday. However, it is becoming increasingly difficult to find enough staff for this important task. This year, for the first time, there is a standardized allowance.

They check ID cards, hand out ballot papers and keep track of voter turnout in their district: no election works without the 10,000 or so polling clerks in Styria. In the EU election on Sunday, however, something very important is changing: For the first time, all election observers in Austria will receive a uniform allowance. The amount depends on the opening hours of the polling station: 33 euros for three hours, 66 euros for six hours and 100 euros for more than six hours. 

Wolfgang Wlattnig, Head of the Styrian Municipal Department

(Bild: steiermark.at/Streibl)

These allowances have to be paid by the municipalities and cities. "They don't get the amount back," explains Wolfgang Wlattnig, Head of Department 7 at the Province of Styria, which is responsible for municipalities and elections. "However, the municipalities receive compensation from the federal government amounting to two euros per eligible voter for conducting the elections."

How do you become an Assistant Electoral Officer?

• Prerequisite: You must be eligible to vote in Austria.
• Parties delegate the Assistant Electoral Officers according to the results of the last National Council election.
• In a municipal electoral authority, nine assessors and one head are required, in a district electoral authority (in scattered or larger municipalities) one head and three assessors.
• "Scrutineers check, witness and document that an election is conducted properly," explains Wlattnig. They also count the votes.

"Finding scrutineers is not getting any easier"
For years, the parties have been faced with the problem that it is becoming increasingly difficult to find enough scrutineers. "It's not getting any easier, but it still works relatively well for us," says Erwin Dirnberger (ÖVP), Mayor of Söding-St. Johann and head of the Styrian Association of Municipalities. "Because the opening hours are being extended more and more and then a whole day is taken up with voting, there is less interest. Father's Day is also on a Sunday this year." 

Dirnberger finds the compensation "fundamentally positive" - even if money does not play a major role as a motivation. "Election observers are often officials and local councillors who see it as a democratic duty to ensure that elections go smoothly." 

Standing as a scrutineer is still an honorary position, even if there is compensation.

Erwin Dirnberger

Kurt Wallner, Mayor of Leoben for the SPÖ and President of the Association of Towns, is familiar with similar problems. "That's why we make sure that there is water, coffee and sometimes snacks in the polling stations - that's the least we can do to ensure that people feel comfortable so that they can carry out their work in the spirit of democracy."

The President of the Styrian Association of Municipalities and Member of Parliament Erwin Dirnberger

(Bild: LT-Stmk/Erwin Scheriau)

Flight of fancy motivates functionaries
The situation is particularly difficult in medium-sized towns with many wards and for parties that do not have such a dense network of functionaries as the ÖVP and SPÖ, such as the FPÖ. "In Langenwang, Mürzzuschlag and Neuberg an der Mürz, we occupy all the wards - subject to drop-outs," says Philipp Könighofer, Deputy Mayor in Langenwang and FPÖ spokesperson, giving an example. "But yes, occasionally this challenges our organizational structure."

The motivation is all the higher because, according to the polls, the FPÖ is flying high: "This means that the willingness to be present at election stands and to sit in on elections is particularly high."