State election 2025

Preferential vote beats ranking on the list

The provincial election will take place on January 19, 2025.

(Bild: Judt Reinhard)

In the provincial election on 19 January, for the first time only the preferential votes will decide which candidates on the district lists will enter the provincial parliament.

Although the election campaign does not officially start until January 6, unofficially the race to enter the provincial parliament has already begun. The battle for preferential votes is becoming a particular focus. The preferential voting system, which was adopted in 2021, will be used for the first time in the provincial election on 19 January.

Close constellations expected on district lists
While the mandataries were previously determined using a voting points system, the ranking on the district lists will no longer play a role in future. "If the 14th-placed candidate has one more preferential vote, then he is in front," explains Bernhard Ozlsberger, the provincial election director. Everything will remain the same on the state lists, where the voting points system will continue to count. The preferential vote also beats the party vote in Burgenland. Anyone casting a preferential vote for a candidate from a party other than the one they have ticked will be voting for the party of their preferred candidate.

Voting with a polling card in the municipality
Another new feature is the "quasi-pre-election day", where voters who have applied for a polling card can vote directly in the municipality. The usual pre-election day takes place on January 10 - at least one polling station must be open in each municipality.

Voter registers open on November 12
Who is eligible to vote in the regional elections will be determined next Tuesday. From November 12, there will still be the opportunity to object to the electoral roll - if someone is wrongly on the roll or does not appear there.

Parties have until December 13 to submit their district election proposals and have until December 18 to submit their state election proposals. The district election nominations will be finalized and published on 23 December and the provincial election nominations on 27 December. 

Polling cards can be applied for until January 17
Voting cards can be applied for in writing until January 15 and verbally until January 17. Returned absentee ballots must also be received by the municipality by 17 January in order to be counted.