Municipal elections

Excitement in the cities, clear cases in the valleys

The municipal councils in all 96 municipalities in Vorarlberg are being re-elected, and in 61 municipalities there is also a direct mayoral election.

(Bild: Krone KREATIV/Dietmar Stiplovsek)

The Vorarlberg municipal elections on Sunday may not be a thriller, but there is certainly potential for surprises. But what the elections in the state are definitely different.

The people of Vorarlberg are known to have their quirks. This is particularly true of the municipal election law, which is probably unique in the world. What it is also: a little complicated. There are three different modes of voting on Sunday: In 13 small municipalities, the so-called majority voting system is used. This means that no nominations have been submitted in these places and there are blank ballot papers in the polling booths. Voters can enter the names of their preferred candidates on these ballot papers. In 22 municipalities, one or more lists are running, but no mayoral candidate due to a lack of registration. The following applies to these 35 municipalities in total: the head of the municipality must be elected by the new municipal council. To put it bluntly: Someone has to swallow the toad.

In 61 municipalities, the mayor is elected directly 
In the remaining 61 municipalities, however, the mayor is elected directly. If no candidate achieves an absolute majority in the direct election, the voters have to decide again in a run-off election on March 30. The separation of municipal council and mayoral elections can lead to quite curious constellations: in 2020, for example, the ÖVP in Bregenz was around ten percent ahead of the list of Michael Ritsch (SPÖ), but Ritsch still won the mayoral election - since then, "the game of free forces" has applied in the provincial capital.

Party politics and ideology only supporting actors
Another specific feature of the Ländle elections is that, in addition to the state parliament parties ÖVP, FPÖ, Greens, SPÖ and Neos, numerous lists of names are running. A total of 198 party lists will be on the ballot papers for the municipal elections on Sunday. A total of 1839 seats will be allocated in the municipal parlors.

307,891 people

are entitled to vote in Vorarlberg on Sunday, including 36,505 foreign EU citizens. The first polling station opens at 6.45 am and voting closes at 1 pm. The results from the cities will be available in the early evening, the small municipalities will be counted much earlier.

129 candidates are registered for the direct mayoral election. Exactly half of the 96 municipalities are currently governed by ÖVP mayors, another 25 are considered "ÖVP-affiliated". Five municipal mayors are from the Freedom Party, four from the SPÖ and two from the Greens. The proportion of women is modest: Women are currently in charge in only eight municipalities - and this is unlikely to change fundamentally on Sunday.

Will the ÖVP recapture the provincial capital?
While the situation in the side valleys is mostly clear, the polls in the cities and large municipalities promise to be exciting. In the urban Rhine Valley in particular, the ÖVP has lost much of its former dominance. One of the Black Party's primary goals is to recapture the mayor's seat in Bregenz, where the incumbent Ritsch (SPÖ) is competing with Roland Frühstück (ÖVP).

The race is also completely open in Bludenz, where mayor Simon Tschann (ÖVP) has to fend off SPÖ provincial party leader Mario Leiter. An exciting election Sunday is also expected in Feldkirch, where Mayor Manfred Rädler (ÖVP) and challenger Andrea Kerbleder (FPÖ) are considered to be the most promising contenders. There is also likely to be a run-off election in Lustenau, where three candidates have realistic chances in the market town: Patrick Wiedl (ÖVP), Martin Fitz (FPÖ) and Simon Vetter (Greens). That leaves Vorarlberg's largest municipality, the city of Dornbirn: Julian Fässler (ÖVP) is the top favorite going into the election, but Christoph Waibel (FPÖ) at least has a good chance of forcing a run-off.