State election

Strongholds and zero points for the Ländle parties

The ÖVP did not do as well in the valleys as it did in the mountains.

(Bild: Vorarlberg Tourismus)

Even a strong FPÖ could not break the ÖVP dominance in the Ländle. A look at the political map reveals serious differences - and also some bizarre facts.

In Fontanella, the Vorarlberg People's Party still sees the world as a healthy place: 82.2 percent of the votes went to the Black Party - the absolute top result in the state. The SPÖ, on the other hand, did not win a single vote in the Großwalsertal mountain village. Fontanella is not the only municipality in which the Social Democrats are a blank spot - not a single cross was cast for the SPÖ in Damüls, Warth and Dünserberg either. Fun fact: the KPÖ received one vote each in Warth and Dünserberg.

Fontanella: the black paradise.

(Bild: Bergauer)

Unsurprisingly, the Socialists did best in Bludenz, the home town of top candidate Mario Leiter, with a respectable 17.1 percent.

Five bruises on a black map
Generally speaking, the political map was colored deep black, with only the FPÖ managing to break the dominance of the People's Party in five municipalities. The Blue Party came first in Lustenau, Hohenems, Bürs, Altach and Fußach, where the ÖVP achieved the worst result in the country with just 30.7 percent of the vote. Like the SPÖ, the Blue Party achieved its worst result (7.1 percent) in Damüls. The Walser village obviously prefers a clear situation, with 78.6 percent of voters voting for the ÖVP - and curiously enough, this is the worst result ever achieved by the VP in a regional election in Damüls.

The FPÖ was able to recapture its old stronghold of Lustenau.

(Bild: Stiplovsek Dietmar)

The Greens did not have a pleasant election Sunday, achieving their best municipal result with 16.9% in Röthis. The small flaw: in the 2019 state election, they achieved 23%. The most unpopular eco party is in Warth, where it only just managed a measly one vote. In contrast, the Arlberg is a very good place for the NEOS, with 15.7 percent of voters in Lech voting pink - the best result in the country.

The higher the mountain, the more popular the ÖVP
An evaluation by the survey institute "Foresight" revealed a quite bizarre correlation: according to this, the higher the municipalities are, the better the ÖVP performs. In the valleys below 530 meters above sea level, "only" 35 percent of the votes went to the black party, in the middle altitudes it was just under 44 percent, and above 781 meters above sea level it was even enough for an absolute majority (52 percent). Scoffers will now object that this may have something to do with decreasing oxygen saturation. Of course, one could have dispensed with the gag about altitude and simply divided the country into center, semi-periphery and periphery - this is called the urban-rural divide and is a well-known phenomenon.