2015 Upper Austrian state election

The Upper Austrian constitution mandates that cabinet positions in the state government (state councillors, {{langx|de|Landesräten}}) be allocated between parties proportionally in accordance with the share of votes won by each; this is known as Proporz. As such, the government is a perpetual coalition of all parties that qualify for at least one state councillor. Despite this, parties still establish formal coalitions to organise cabinet positions and ensure a Landtag majority for legislative purposes.

In the 2009 state election, the ÖVP consolidated its lead over the SPÖ, which suffered a huge loss of 13.4 percentage points. Meanwhile, the ÖVP came up one seat short of an absolute majority. The FPÖ also made substantial gains (6.9 points) and moved into third place ahead of the Greens. The ÖVP won five councillors, the SPÖ two, the FPÖ one, and the Greens one. The ÖVP formed a coalition with the Greens.

The 56 seats of the Landtag of Upper Austria are elected via open list proportional representation in a two-step process. The seats are distributed between five multi-member constituencies. For parties to receive any representation in the Landtag, they must either win at least one seat in a constituency directly, or clear a 4 percent state-wide electoral threshold. Seats are distributed in constituencies according to the Hare quota, with any remaining seats allocated using the D'Hondt method at the state level, to ensure overall proportionality between a party's vote share and its share of seats.{{cite web|url=https://www.ris.bka.gv.at/GeltendeFassung.wxe?Abfrage=LrOO&Gesetzesnummer=10000538|title=RIS - Upper Austria Landtag election act|publisher=Upper Austrian Government}}

The table below lists parties represented in the previous Landtag.

In addition to the parties already represented in the Landtag, three parties collected enough signatures to be placed on the ballot.

• NEOS – The New Austria (NEOS)
• Communist Party of Austria (KPÖ)
• Christian Party of Austria (CPÖ)

{{bar box

| title = Popular vote

| float =

| titlebar = #ddd

| width = 500px

| barwidth = 400px

| bars =

{{bar percent|ÖVP|{{party color|Austrian People's Party}}|36.37}}

{{bar percent|FPÖ|{{party color|Freedom Party of Austria}}|30.36}}

{{bar percent|SPÖ|{{party color|Social Democratic Party of Austria}}|18.37}}

{{bar percent|GRÜNE|{{party color|The Greens – The Green Alternative}}|10.32}}

{{bar percent|NEOS|{{party color|NEOS – The New Austria}}|3.47}}

{{bar percent|Other|#777777|1.11}}}}

{{bar box

| title = Landtag seats

| float =

| titlebar = #ddd

| width = 500px

| barwidth = 400px

| bars =

{{bar percent|ÖVP|{{party color|Austrian People's Party}}|37.50}}

{{bar percent|FPÖ|{{party color|Freedom Party of Austria}}|32.14}}

{{bar percent|SPÖ|{{party color|Social Democratic Party of Austria}}|19.64}}

{{bar percent|GRÜNE|{{party color|The Greens – The Green Alternative}}|10.71}}}}

The result was a major breakthrough for the FPÖ, not least of all because the party captured three state councillors. This put pressure on the ÖVP, which no longer held a majority in the state government. They declared they were not willing to form a coalition which would only have a one-seat majority in the state government, essentially ruling out any coalition with either the SPÖ or Greens alone.{{cite web|url=https://ooe.orf.at/v2/news/stories/2734449/|title=Coalition talks in the state house|date=30 September 2015|publisher=ORF}}{{cite web|url=https://www.diepresse.com/4832911/oo-puhringer-sieht-gesprachsfahigkeit-mit-allen-parteien|title=Upper Austria: Pühringer sees "ability to talk" with all parties|date=30 September 2015|publisher=Die Presse}} The Greens pushed for a three-party coalition with the ÖVP and SPÖ, but Pühringer instead sought an agreement with the FPÖ. This was ultimately successful, though Pühringer distanced himself from the FPÖ, describing the situation as a "working agreement" rather than a coalition, stating that both parties were given great freedom to operate independently.{{cite web|url=https://ooe.orf.at/v2/news/stories/2738538/|title=Parliament met for the first session|date=23 October 2015|publisher=ORF}}{{cite web|url=https://ooe.orf.at/v2/news/stories/2737990/|title=ÖVP: Hummer loses in a fight vote|date=21 October 2015|publisher=ORF}} The coalition was condemned by SPÖ federal Chancellor Werner Faymann, but supported by ÖVP Vice Chancellor Reinhold Mitterlehner.{{cite web|url=https://www.nachrichten.at/archivierte-artikel/wahl2015/Faymann-und-Mitterlehner-zu-Schwarz-Blau-in-OOE-gespalten;art174240,2007136|title=Faymann and Mitterlehner split into black and blue in Upper Austria|date=20 October 2015|publisher=Nachrichten.at}} The new government took office on 23 October.

{{reflist}}

{{Austrian local elections}}

Category:2015 elections in Austria

Category:State elections in Austria

Category:September 2015 in Austria

Category:Upper Austria