Official challenges

Elections have not yet been held in eleven municipalities

12 challenges in 11 municipalities: From Blindenmarkt to Traismauer, voters still have to be patient.

(Bild: stock.adobe.com)

Elections were held in 568 Lower Austrian municipalities on 26 January, but the results are not yet known in all places. Elections were officially contested in eleven municipalities, as the provincial electoral authority announced on Tuesday. In the "worst" case scenario, the ballot may have to be repeated.

New elections are imminent! However, this does not mean in the federal government, but in the municipalities. The ballot on 26 January has now been officially contested twelve times, twice in Klosterneuburg: in the largest town in the district of Tulln, irregularities are said to have occurred in ward 28 - the Caritas nursing home.

Several envelopes were left open
As reported, the electoral commission rummaged through bedridden patients in their rooms with their ballot boxes. This is in itself intentional, but during this time nine envelopes were also received by the member of the electoral commission who had been left alone in the dining room. The FPÖ now argues that this could have manipulated the votes. Because the Freedom Party is only two votes behind the Neos in Klosterneuburg, this could change the result - and the distribution of councillors.

Missing out by one vote
A recount is to take place in Blindenmarkt, where the "Freie Wähler" citizens' list missed out on a place in the local parliament by one vote. There were also objections in Traismauer, St. Veit an der Gölsen and Niederhollabrunn as well as in Mödling, Marchegg and Maria Lanzendorf, Kematen an der Ybbs, Hof am Leithaberge and Gablitz.

The provincial electoral authority now has until March 10 to deal with the objections. Its chairman, Provincial Parliament President Karl Wilfing: "Elections are the foundation of our democracy, which is why we will examine all challenges very carefully."