Politics Election in Austria: Chancellor sees "strong electoral movement"

In the parliamentary elections in Austria, Chancellor and ÖVP leader Karl Nehammer was one of the first of the top candidates to cast his vote. He was confident, as he had recently sensed a "strong electoral movement" in favor of the ÖVP, the 51-year-old head of government told reporters outside his polling station. According to the latest polls, the conservative ÖVP has now narrowed the gap to two percentage points to the right-wing FPÖ, which was long favored. FPÖ leader Herbert Kickl is not expected at his polling station in Lower Austria until the afternoon.

In Austria, almost 6.4 million eligible voters are called to cast their vote today. The last polling stations close at 5 pm. An initial projection is expected shortly afterwards. Voter turnout in 2019 was around 76 percent. Pollsters expect a higher figure to be achieved this time. The National Council has 183 members and will be constituted on October 24.

FPÖ sees double-digit increase

According to the polls, the right-wing FPÖ has a good chance of becoming the strongest party. It would be the first time that the FPÖ has won a National Council election. The most recent polls put the right-wing populists at around 27% - a double-digit increase compared to 2019. The conservative ÖVP came in at around 25% in the polls. This would be a significant drop compared to 2019, when the party led by Sebastian Kurz recorded 37.5 percent. According to the latest polls, the Social Democratic SPÖ was at around 21% - roughly the same level as its record low in 2019.

However, even if the FPÖ wins, it is questionable whether party leader Kickl will become chancellor of the Alpine republic. So far, all other parties have refused to work with the 55-year-old. Austria was last governed by a coalition of the ÖVP and the Greens. The alliance was forged by the then ÖVP leader Kurz.