Elections in Austria

Austrian citizens residing abroad have been given the right to cast their votes in national elections, elections to the European Parliament, and national referenda. You are also allowed to vote in provincial (Lower Austria, Tyrol, Vorarlberg) elections if your move from Austria was less than 10 years before the provincial election.

The following overview assists non-German speaking Austrians in getting better informed about their voting rights. In-depth information, however, is available only in German.

In order to have his/her vote counted, Austrians residing abroad must:

• be 16 years old at election day,
• have been registered with an Austrian village or town (solely for election purposes), 
• not be excluded from the right to vote (e.g. while serving a prison term), 
• have both applied for an absentee ballot and received one in time, 
• return the ballot to the election authorities in Austria within a specified time-limit.

If you - an Austrian citizen - do not permanently reside in Austria, you must register with a town or village in Austria in order to have your name added to a local "voter registry." If your name is not registered in this "voter registry", you are neither able nor allowed to cast your vote in national elections or referenda.

The voter registration form is available online (however, the form is in German). Once you have filled out the registration form, please send it together with a copy of your valid Austrian passport DIRECTLY to the town/village in Austria.

Please note: Your voter registration is valid for ten years. If you want to continue to be able to cast your vote in Austrian elections, please renew your registration at least every ten years (you will also receive a timely reminder from the town/village you are registered with). The signed voter registration form together with a copy of your valid Austrian passport is to be sent DIRECTLY to the town/village in Austria.

Further, please be advised that you have to notify "your" village/town of your current address abroad and of any address changes that might occur in the future. Please provide them also with your e-mail address to facilitate communication. If the village/town in Austria does not have your correct address in its files, you will not receive your absentee ballot which is required to cast your vote.

As of 1 July 2007, there is no longer a need to apply for an absentee ballot before each and every election . If you check the appropriate box on the voter registration form, you will automatically receive an absentee ballot before each election for the next ten years from the town/village you are registered with. Yet, if the village/town has not been informed of an address change, it will send the absentee ballot to the wrong address. (NB: If you do not mark the box, you must apply for an absentee ballot before each election.)

Immediately after having received your absentee ballot, you may actually vote. In any case, you must cast your vote before the last polling station in Austria is scheduled to close (Note the time difference: Austria is five to nine hours ahead of Canada). Be advised that both envelopes you have received - the small one and the larger one - must be properly closed and sealed.

It is no longer necessary to have someone (e.g. notary public, consular official) certify your identity on the absentee ballot. As of 1 July 2007, it suffices to solemnly declare (signed affidavit) that "you cast your vote personally, in secret and free of outside interference."

After you have both cast your vote and sealed both envelopes, the absentee ballot must be returned to the county elections commission in Austria (you may send it directly or via the Embassy/Consulate). Your vote will not be counted if the ballot does not arrive there on the eighth day after election day at 14h00 (local Austrian time) at the latest. (For the first round of presidential elections, it is the fifth day and not the eighth).

Further information (mostly in German) is available on the websites of the