New record

Over 200,000 Upper Austrians vote with a polling card

There are a few rules to follow when voting by absentee ballot. In extreme cases, the vote is invalid - for example, if the envelope is sealed with Tixo.

(Bild: Werner Kerschbaummayr/WERNER KERSCHBAUMMAYR)

Their votes count too: The provincial electoral authority is expecting a new record number of polling cards at the polls on September 29 - and at the same time warns against using them incorrectly. In extreme cases, the vote is invalid.

Converted to the number of eligible voters - specifically 1,097,763 in Upper Austria - at least one in five Upper Austrians applies for a polling card - and the trend is rising, as the EU elections in June also showed. However, anyone who chooses this form of voting has to fulfill certain formal criteria, says Magdalena Bigonski, head of the Directorate of Home Affairs and Local Government in the state of Upper Austria, listing the mistakes that can be made: "The polling card envelope must be sealed. The envelope must also not be sealed with Tixo or similar, because then it cannot be ruled out that someone has tampered with the envelope and its contents," she says.

 It is also important not to forget to sign the envelope. This is a declaration in lieu of an oath. "If this is missing, the vote is invalid," says Bigonski.

Last polling station closes at 4 pm
By the way: The National Council election officially starts on September 29 in Schönau im Mühlkreis. The municipality opens its polling station at 6.45 am. The last polling station closes at 4 pm, for example in Linz. The counting of votes may only begin in the respective municipality after the polls close. The first projections are expected at 5 pm. RL