2018 Carinthian state election
{{Short description|none}}
{{Infobox election
| election_name = 2018 Carinthian state election
| country = Carinthia
| flag_year = state
| type = parliamentary
| previous_election = 2013 Carinthian state election
| previous_year = 2013
| next_election = 2023 Carinthian state election
| next_year = 2023
| election_date = 5 March 2018
| seats_for_election = All 36 seats in the Landtag of Carinthia
| majority_seats = 19
| turnout = 297,921 (68.6%)
{{decrease}} 6.5%
| image1 = File:CoR Members portraits - Peter KAISER.jpg
| leader1 = Peter Kaiser
| party1 = Social Democratic Party of Austria
| last_election1 = 14 seats, 37.1%
| seats1 = 18
| seat_change1 = {{increase}} 4
| popular_vote1 = 140,994
| percentage1 = 47.9%
| swing1 = {{increase}} 10.8%
| image2 = 150x150px
| leader2 = Gernot Darmann
| party2 = Freedom Party of Austria
| last_election2 = 6 seats, 16.8%
| seats2 = 9
| seat_change2 = {{increase}} 3
| popular_vote2 = 67,538
| percentage2 = 23.0%
| swing2 = {{increase}} 6.2%
| image3 = 150x150px
| leader3 = Christian Benger
| party3 = Austrian People's Party (2017)
| last_election3 = 5 seats, 14.4%
| popular_vote3 = 45,438
| seats3 = 6
| seat_change3 = {{increase}} 1
| percentage3 = 15.5%
| swing3 = {{increase}} 1.1%
| image4 = 150x150px
| leader4 = Gerhard Köfer
| party4 = Team Carinthia
| colour4 = FFED00
| last_election4 = 4 seats, 11.1%
| seats4 = 3
| seat_change4 = {{decrease}} 1
| popular_vote4 = 16,667
| percentage4 = 5.7%
| swing4 = {{decrease}} 5.5%
| image5 = 150x150px
| leader5 = Rolf Holub
| party5 = The Greens – The Green Alternative
| last_election5 = 5 seats, 12.1%
| seats5 = 0
| seat_change5 = {{decrease}} 5
| popular_vote5 = 9,188
| percentage5 = 3.1%
| swing5 = {{decrease}} 9.0%
| map_image = Carinthia state election card 2018.svg
| map_size = 350px
| map_caption = Results by municipality. The lighter shade indicates a plurality; the darker shade indicates a majority.
| title = Governor
| before_election = Peter Kaiser
| before_party = SPÖ
| after_election = Peter Kaiser
| after_party = SPÖ
}}
The 2018 Carinthian state election was held on 5 March 2018 to elect the members of the Landtag of Carinthia.
The centre-left Social Democratic Party of Austria (SPÖ) was the clear winner, taking 47.9% of votes, an eleven percentage point increase from 2013. The Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ) gained six points, and the Austrian People's Party (ÖVP) gained one. This was enabled by a collapse in support for other parties: Team Carinthia, which had split from defunct Team Stronach, lost half its voteshare; The Greens tumbled from 12% to 3% and lost their representation; and the Alliance for the Future of Austria (BZÖ) collapsed from 6.4% to just 0.4%.
The SPÖ fell one seat short of an absolute majority, and held exploratory talks with the three other parties in the Landtag. They ultimately formed a coalition government with the ÖVP.{{Cite web|url=https://kaernten.orf.at/v2/news/stories/2905733/|title=New faces in the state government|date=9 April 2018|website=ORF}}
Background
Prior to amendments made in 2017, the Carinthian constitution mandated that cabinet positions in the state government be allocated between parties proportionally in accordance with the share of votes won by each; this is known as Proporz. As such, the government was a perpetual coalition of all parties that qualified for at least one cabinet position. In June 2017, the SPÖ, ÖVP, and Greens (all members of the government) as well as Team Carinthia voted to amend the constitution to remove this requirement.{{cite web|url=https://www.diepresse.com/5227708/karnten-schafft-den-proporz-ab|title=Carinthia abolishes the Proporz|date=1 June 2017|publisher=Die Presse}} As such, the 2018 election was the first in post-war Carinthian history in which conventional coalition formation could take place.{{cite web|url=https://kaernten.orf.at/v2/news/stories/2885745/|title=New rules for government formation in the future|date=23 December 2017|publisher=ORF}}
In the 2013 election, the Freedom Party in Carinthia suffered the largest defeat of any party in Austrian history, falling from 45% to just 17%. Their collapse led to a highly fractious result, with five parties winning at least one state councillor. However, the SPÖ emerged as a clear victor with 37% of the vote. The FPK, having previously been the dominant party in the state, won only one state councillor. Shortly after the election, they voted to give up their independence and merge into the federal Freedom Party. The SPÖ subsequently formed a governing agreement with the ÖVP and Greens.
Electoral system
The 36 seats of the Landtag of Carinthia are elected via open list proportional representation in a two-step process. The seats are distributed between four 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 5 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=http://www.ktn.gv.at/wahlen/lt2018/LT2018_Mandate.pdf|title=LT2018_Mandate.pdf|publisher=Carinthian Government}}
Contesting parties
The table below lists parties represented in the previous Landtag.
| class="wikitable"
! rowspan="2" colspan="3"| Name ! rowspan="2"| Ideology ! rowspan="2"| Leader ! colspan="2"| 2013 result |
| Votes (%)
! Seats |
|---|
| style="background:{{party color|Social Democratic Party of Austria}};"|
| style="text-align:center;"| SPÖ | Social Democratic Party of Austria | style="text-align:center;"| 37.1% | {{Composition bar|14|36|{{party color|Social Democratic Party of Austria}}}} |
| style="background:{{party color|Freedom Party of Austria}};"|
| style="text-align:center;"| FPÖ | Freedom Party of Austria | Right-wing populism | style="text-align:center;"| 16.8% | {{Composition bar|6|36|{{party color|Freedom Party of Austria}}}} |
| style="background:{{party color|Austrian People's Party (2017)}};"|
| style="text-align:center;"| ÖVP | Austrian People's Party | Wolfgang Waldner | style="text-align:center;"| 14.4% | {{Composition bar|5|36|{{party color|Austrian People's Party (2017)}}}} |
| style="background:{{party color|The Greens – The Green Alternative}};"|
| style="text-align:center;"| GRÜNE | The Greens – The Green Alternative | Rolf Holub | style="text-align:center;"| 12.1% | {{Composition bar|5|36|{{party color|The Greens – The Green Alternative}}}} |
| style="background:{{party color|Team Carinthia}};"|
| style="text-align:center;"| TK | Team Carinthia | Populism | Gerhard Köfer | style="text-align:center;"| 11.1% | {{Composition bar|4|36|{{party color|Team Stronach}}}} |
| style="background:{{party color|Alliance for the Future of Austria}};"|
| style="text-align:center;"| BZÖ | Alliance for the Future of Austria | Helmut Nikel | style="text-align:center;"| 6.4% | {{Composition bar|2|36|{{party color|Alliance for the Future of Austria}}}} |
In addition to the parties already represented in the Landtag, four parties collected enough signatures to be placed on the ballot.{{cite web|url=http://www.ktn.gv.at/wahlen/lt2018/|title=Landtag election 4 March 2018|publisher=Carinthian Government|access-date=3 August 2020|archive-date=5 March 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180305063455/http://www.ktn.gv.at/wahlen/lt2018/|url-status=dead}}
- NEOS – The New Austria and Liberal Forum (NEOS)
- Communist Party of Austria (KPÖ) – on the ballot only in Klagenfurt, Carinthia East, and Villach
- Responsibility Earth (ERDE)
- FAIR (FAIR)
Opinion polling
| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center;font-size:90%;line-height:14px;" |
| style="height:40px;"
! style="width:190px;" rowspan="2"| Polling firm ! style="width:130px;" rowspan="2"| Fieldwork date ! style="width:35px;" rowspan="2"| Sample ! class="unsortable" style="width:40px;"| SPÖ ! class="unsortable" style="width:40px;"| FPÖ ! class="unsortable" style="width:40px;"| ÖVP ! class="unsortable" style="width:40px;"| Grüne ! class="unsortable" style="width:40px;"| TK ! class="unsortable" style="width:40px;"| BZÖ ! class="unsortable" style="width:40px;"| NEOS ! class="unsortable" style="width:40px;" rowspan="2"| Others ! style="width:30px;" rowspan="2"| Lead |
| style="background:{{party color|Social Democratic Party of Austria}};"|
! style="background:{{party color|Freedom Party of Austria}};"| ! style="background:{{party color|Austrian People's Party (2017)}};"| ! style="background:{{party color|The Greens – The Green Alternative}};"| ! style="background:{{party color|Team Stronach}};"| ! style="background:{{party color|Alliance for the Future of Austria}};"| ! style="background:{{party color|NEOS – The New Austria and Liberal Forum}};"| |
|---|
| style="background:#E9E9E9;"
| 2018 state election | data-sort-value="2018-03-05"| 5 March 2018 | – | style="background:#F4C6C9;"| 47.9 | 22.9 | 15.4 | 3.1 | 5.7 | 0.4 | 2.1 | 2.7 | style="background:{{party color|Social Democratic Party of Austria}};color:#FFFFFF;"| 25.0 |
| [https://www.kleinezeitung.at/service/newsticker/5376382/OGM-sieht-SPOe-in-Kaernten-mit-44-Prozent-weit-vorne OGM]
| data-sort-value="2018-02-22"| 14–20 Feb 2018 | 786 | style="background:#F4C6C9;"| 44 | 24 | 18 | 2–3 | 5 | – | 4–5 | 1–2 | style="background:{{party color|Social Democratic Party of Austria}};color:#FFFFFF;"| 20 |
| [https://www.krone.at/1632541 M+R]
| data-sort-value="2018-02-05"| Autumn 2017 | 500 | style="background:#F4C6C9;"| 42–44 | 26–28 | 16–18 | 3–4 | 5–6 | – | 2–3 | 2 | style="background:{{party color|Social Democratic Party of Austria}};color:#FFFFFF;"| 14–18 |
| [https://kurier.at/chronik/oesterreich/umfrage-fpoe-in-kaernten-nahe-30-prozent/262.171.709 TrendCom]
| data-sort-value="2017-05-06"| February 2017 | 1,100 | style="background:#F4C6C9;"| 39 | 28 | 13 | 12 | 4 | 0 | 3 | – | style="background:{{party color|Social Democratic Party of Austria}};color:#FFFFFF;"| 11 |
| [https://neuwal.com/wahlumfragen/index.php?cid=8 IFAP]
| data-sort-value="2014-08-12"| 12 Aug 2014 | ? | style="background:#F4C6C9;"| 43 | 16 | 17 | 13 | 4 | 2 | 4 | – | style="background:{{party color|Social Democratic Party of Austria}};color:#FFFFFF;"| 26 |
| [https://neuwal.com/wahlumfragen/index.php?cid=8 Humaninstitut]
| data-sort-value="2014-03-26"| 26 Mar 2014 | ? | style="background:#F4C6C9;"| 38 | 16 | 12 | 14 | 10 | 3 | 7 | – | style="background:{{party color|Social Democratic Party of Austria}};color:#FFFFFF;"| 22 |
| [https://neuwal.com/wahlumfragen/index.php?cid=8 IMAS]
| data-sort-value="2014-02-28"| 28 Feb 2014 | ? | style="background:#F4C6C9;"| 36 | 18 | 10 | 15 | 8 | 1.5 | 10 | 1.5 | style="background:{{party color|Social Democratic Party of Austria}};color:#FFFFFF;"| 18 |
| style="background:#E9E9E9;"
| data-sort-value="2013-03-03"| 3 March 2013 | – | style="background:#F4C6C9;"| 37.1 | 16.8 | 14.4 | 12.1 | 11.2 | 6.4 | – | 1.9 | style="background:{{party color|Social Democratic Party of Austria}};color:#FFFFFF;"| 20.3 |
Results
| class=wikitable style=text-align:right
| align=center colspan=7| File:Carinthia Landtag Election 2018.svg |
| colspan=2|Party
! Votes ! % ! +/− ! Seats ! +/− |
|---|
| bgcolor={{party color|Social Democratic Party of Austria}}|
| align=left| Social Democratic Party of Austria (SPÖ) | 140,994 | 47.94 | +10.81 | 18 | +4 |
| bgcolor={{party color|Freedom Party of Austria}}|
| align=left| Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ) | 67,538 | 22.96 | +6.11 | 9 | +3 |
| bgcolor={{party color|Austrian People's Party (2017)}}|
| align=left| Austrian People's Party (ÖVP) | 45,438 | 15.45 | +1.05 | 6 | +1 |
| bgcolor={{party color|Team Stronach}}|
| align=left| Team Carinthia (TK) | 16,667 | 5.67 | –5.51 | 3 | –1 |
| bgcolor={{party color|The Greens – The Green Alternative}}|
| align=left| The Greens – The Green Alternative (GRÜNE) | 9,188 | 3.12 | –8.98 | 0 | –5 |
| bgcolor={{party color|NEOS – The New Austria}}|
| align=left| NEOS – The New Austria (NEOS) | 6,307 | 2.14 | New | 0 | New |
| | align=left| Responsibility EARTH (ERDE)
| 5,441 | 1.85 | New | 0 | New |
| bgcolor={{party color|Alliance for the Future of Austria}}|
| align=left| Alliance for the Future of Austria (BZÖ) | 1,075 | 0.37 | –6.03 | 0 | –2 |
| bgcolor={{party color|Communist Party of Austria}}|
| align=left| Communist Party of Austria (KPÖ) | 822 | 0.28 | +0.28 | 0 | ±0 |
| | align=left| FAIR (FAIR)
| 622 | 0.21 | New | 0 | New |
| colspan=2 align=left| Invalid/blank votes
| 3,826 | – | – | – | – |
| colspan=2 align=left| Total
| 297,918 | 100 | – | 36 | 0 |
| align=left colspan=2| Registered voters/turnout
| 434,121 | 68.63 | –6.52 | – | – |
| align=left colspan=8 |Source: [http://www.ktn.gv.at/wahlen/lt2018/ Carinthian Government] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180305063455/http://www.ktn.gv.at/wahlen/lt2018/ |date=2018-03-05 }} |
{{bar box
| title = Popular vote
| float =
| titlebar = #ddd
| width = 500px
| barwidth = 400px
| bars =
{{bar percent|SPÖ|{{party color|Social Democratic Party of Austria}}|47.94}}
{{bar percent|FPÖ|{{party color|Freedom Party of Austria}}|22.96}}
{{bar percent|ÖVP|{{party color|Austrian People's Party (2017)}}|15.45}}
{{bar percent|TK|{{party color|Team Stronach}}|5.67}}
{{bar percent|GRÜNE|{{party color|The Greens – The Green Alternative}}|3.12}}
{{bar percent|NEOS|{{party color|NEOS – The New Austria}}|2.14}}
{{bar percent|Other|#777777|2.72}}}}
{{bar box
| title = Landtag seats
| float =
| titlebar = #ddd
| width = 500px
| barwidth = 400px
| bars =
{{bar percent|SPÖ|{{party color|Social Democratic Party of Austria}}|50.00}}
{{bar percent|FPÖ|{{party color|Freedom Party of Austria}}|25.00}}
{{bar percent|ÖVP|{{party color|Austrian People's Party (2017)}}|16.67}}
{{bar percent|TK|{{party color|Team Stronach}}|8.33}}}}
=Results by constituency=
| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;font-size:90%;line-height:16px" | |||||||||||||||
| style="height:40px;"
! style="width:100px;" rowspan="3"| Constituency ! style="width:60px;" colspan="2"| SPÖ ! style="width:60px;" colspan="2"| FPÖ ! style="width:60px;" colspan="2"| ÖVP ! style="width:60px;" colspan="2"| TK ! style="width:60px;" colspan="2"| Grüne ! style="width:60px;" colspan="2"| NEOS ! class="unsortable" style="width:40px;" rowspan="2"| Others ! class="unsortable" style="width:40px;" rowspan="3"| Total ! class="unsortable" style="width:40px;" rowspan="3"| Turnout | |||||||||||||||
| colspan="2" style="background:{{party color|Social Democratic Party of Austria}};"|
! colspan="2" style="background:{{party color|Freedom Party of Austria}};"| ! colspan="2" style="background:{{party color|Austrian People's Party (2017)}};"| ! colspan="2" style="background:{{party color|Team Stronach}};"| ! colspan="2" style="background:{{party color|The Greens – The Green Alternative}};"| ! colspan="2" style="background:{{party color|NEOS – The New Austria and Liberal Forum}};"| | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| class=unsortable| % || class=unsortable| {{abbr|S|Seats}}
! class=unsortable| % || class=unsortable| {{abbr|S|Seats}} ! class=unsortable| % || class=unsortable| {{abbr|S|Seats}} ! class=unsortable| % || class=unsortable| {{abbr|S|Seats}} ! class=unsortable| % || class=unsortable| {{abbr|S|Seats}} ! class=unsortable| % || class=unsortable| {{abbr|S|Seats}} ! class=unsortable| % | |||||||||||||||
| align=left| Klagenfurt | bgcolor=#F4C6C9| 51.7 | bgcolor=#F4C6C9| 5 | 19.9 | 1 | 13.3 | 1 | 4.9 | 5.0 | 2.6 | 2.7 | 7 | 67.4 | |||
| align=left| Carinthia East | bgcolor=#F4C6C9| 46.4 | bgcolor=#F4C6C9| 4 | 25.8 | 2 | 17.0 | 1 | 4.8 | 2.2 | 1.9 | 1.9 | 7 | 69.3 | |||
| align=left| Villach | bgcolor=#F4C6C9| 51.2 | bgcolor=#F4C6C9| 4 | 21.6 | 1 | 12.4 | 5.4 | 2.9 | 2.1 | 4.5 | 5 | 67.9 | ||||
| align=left| Carinthia West | bgcolor=#F4C6C9| 42.3 | bgcolor=#F4C6C9| 3 | 24.5 | 1 | 19.0 | 1 | 7.9 | 2.3 | 1.9 | 2.1 | 5 | 70.0 | |||
| colspan=16 bgcolor=lightgrey| | |||||||||||||||
| align=left| Remaining seats | 2 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 12 | ||||||||
| colspan=16 bgcolor=lightgrey| | |||||||||||||||
| align=left| Total | bgcolor=#F4C6C9| 47.9 | bgcolor=#F4C6C9| 18 | 22.9 | 9 | 15.4 | 6 | 5.7 | 3 | 3.1 | 0 | 2.1 | 0 | 2.7 | 36 | 68.6 |
| class=sortbottom
| colspan=16 align=left| Source: [http://www.ktn.gv.at/wahlen/lt2018/LT2018_Mandate.pdf Carinthian Government] |
Aftermath
After the election, the SPÖ began exploratory talks with the three other parties in the Landtag. By the beginning of April, a coalition agreement had been reached with the ÖVP. However, after ÖVP leader Christian Benger unexpectedly resigned a few days later, the SPÖ led by Kaiser demanded the coalition be renegotiated, fearing the new ÖVP leadership may renege on promises made by their predecessors.{{cite news|url=https://kaernten.orf.at/v2/news/stories/2904908/|title=Coalition wobbles after Benger resigns|date=4 April 2018|publisher=ORF}} On 9 April, the coalition was finalised and presented.
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- [https://www.ktn.gv.at/DE/repos/files/ktn.gv.at/Abteilungen/Abt1/Dateien%283%29/PDF/Statistik/Publikationen_Stat/Landtagswahlen_18.pdf]
{{Austrian local elections}}