Late reckoning

EU election: This is what the long, long election Sunday will be like

(Bild: Klemens Groh)

Around 6.4 million people in Austria are called upon to vote for their representatives in the European Parliament on Sunday. The first of the 9856 polling stations will open at 6 a.m., but it will be a long time before the results are known. The results will be announced when the polling stations across Europe have closed and in Italy the polls do not close until 11 pm.

It will be an exhausting but also exciting day for the leading candidates and their teams. Election Sunday starts with the casting of votes. From the afternoon onwards, the political action will then focus on the German capital, where all the leading candidates will gather in the House of the European Union after the first trend forecast of the election results has been published. This is followed by separate celebrations at the election parties.

Marathon runner Lopatka is the first to start

• Early riser Reinhold Lopatka is the first to cast his vote. The ÖVP top candidate casts his vote at 8 a.m. in his home town of Greinbach in the Styrian district of Hartberg-Fürstenfeld.
• Green top candidate Lena Schilling is also early, voting at 9 a.m. in Vienna-Meidling.
• Not far away in Vienna-Mariahilf, the KPÖ top candidate Günther Hopfgartner will be voting at the same time at a polling station in the Barmherzige Schwestern hospital.

• At 11 a.m., NEOS candidate Helmut Brandstätter will exercise his right to vote in Vienna-Währung.
• At the same time, his FPÖ colleague Harald Vilimsky will cast his vote in Vienna-Landstraße and Maria Hubmer-Mogg, first on the DNA list, in the Styrian capital Graz.
• SPÖ top candidate Andreas Schieder votes at 11.30 am in his home district of Vienna-Leopoldstadt.

Voting almost clashed
There was almost an awkward clash of dates during voting: Vilimsky and Federal President Alexander Van der Bellen originally wanted to cast their votes at the same time in the same pub. The clash was prevented in time. Van der Bellen cast his vote at 10.15 am. Five years ago, the two also cast their votes in the same place at different times.

The leading candidates of the parties represented in parliament will have to put up with each other once again on Sunday.

(Bild: Klemens Groh)

Forecasts and election parties
The parties' election parties start in the afternoon and the mood will largely depend on the trend forecasts.

• The ÖVP is holding its party in front of its federal party headquarters in Lichtenfelsgasse.
• The Freedom Party's election party will take place right next door in the Vino Wien restaurant.
• The SPÖ gathers at the Marx-Palast in Vienna-Landstraße.
• The Greens are at the Metropol in Vienna-Hernals, the pink election party is at a pub near the Heumarkt.
• The KPÖ is meeting at the Café Siebenstern in Vienna-Neubau, the venue of its top candidate. In the same district, in the "25hours" hotel, the DNA list also celebrates the election evening from 4 pm.

After the trend forecasts are published at 5 p.m., all seven top candidates will meet at the House of the European Union in the city center. In the media center set up there, the forecasts for the election results in Austria and the other EU countries will be commented on and discussed. Austria's EU Commissioner Johannes Hahn will also be present.

Austrians must rely on trends until 11 p.m.
Results may only be published after 11 pm. In most European countries, forecasts will be used, including in Austria: the news agency APA, the public broadcaster ORF and the private broadcaster Puls24 will jointly publish a trend forecast on the election results immediately after the polls close.

The basis for this is provided by election day surveys conducted by the institutes Foresight, ARGE Wahlen and Peter Hajek. This will be based on around 3600 interviews conducted during the election week (June 3 to 9).

Numerous TV programs planned
In order to fill the long evening for viewers, numerous election programs are planned on all TV channels.

• The first discussion round of the party managers can be seen on Puls4 at 5.30 pm.
• A round of the top candidates is planned on ORF at 6 pm.
• The first forecasts from the member states are expected from 6.15 pm (14 countries close their polls at 6 pm). Further rounds of the top candidates, an adapted voter trend forecast for Austria and further EU-wide forecasts will then follow from 6.30 pm on Puls4 and other channels.
• Puls4 will broadcast a round of the federal politicians at 8.15 pm and the round of the editors-in-chief is scheduled for 8.30 pm on ORF3. The provisional result should be announced at 11.15 pm.

krone.tv live on air from 4 p.m. 
From 4 p.m., krone.tv will provide viewers with comprehensive and up-to-date information on the developments and background. Presenters Gerhard Koller and Jana Pasching will welcome ÖGfE Secretary General Paul Schmidt, media expert Hans Mahr, former Federal Minister Maria Rauch-Kallat, "Krone" journalist Ida Metzger, publicist and former MEP Andreas Mölzer and communications expert Heidi Glück live on air.

Presenter Tanja Pfaffeneder and opinion pollster Christoph Haselmayer will be reporting from the House of the European Union. Among other things, they will be talking to the top EU candidates.

krone.at will be reporting live on election Sunday into the night.