2013 Carinthian state election

The 2013 Carinthian state election was held on 3 March 2013 to elect the members of the Landtag of Carinthia.

2013 Carinthian state election

3 March 2013
All 36 seats in the Landtag of Carinthia 19 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	331,207 (75.1%) 6.6%
Leader Peter Kaiser Gerhard Dörfler Wolfgang Waldner Party SPÖ FPK ÖVP Last election 11 seats, 28.8% 17 seats, 44.9% 6 seats, 16.8% Seats won 14 6 5 Seat change 3 11 1 Popular vote 120,396 54,634 46,696 Percentage 37.1% 16.8% 14.4% Swing 8.3% 28.0% 2.4%   Leader Rolf Holub Gerhard Köfer Josef Bucher Party Greens Stronach BZÖ Last election 2 seats, 5.1% Did not exist Did not contest Seats won 5 4 2 Seat change 3 4 2 Popular vote 39,241 36,256 20,745 Percentage 12.1% 11.2% 6.4% Swing 6.9% New party 6.4%
Governor before election Gerhard Dörfler FPK Elected Governor Peter Kaiser SPÖ

The election saw a massive shift in Carinthian politics, which had been dominated by the Freedom Party in Carinthia (FPK) and Governor Jörg Haider since the 1990s. After Haider's death in 2008, he was succeeded by Gerhard Dörfler. After winning the 2009 election, Dörfler's government suffered a string of scandals and the FPK's popularity plummeted. Ultimately, they suffered a catastrophic loss of 28 percentage points, the worst ever suffered by a party in post-war Austria. They finished on 16.8%, a distant second place behind the Social Democratic Party of Austria (SPÖ), which won 37.1%. The Austrian People's Party (ÖVP) retained third place, but declined to 14.4%. Apart from the SPÖ, other beneficiaries of the FPK's collapse were The Greens, Team Stronach, and Alliance for the Future of Austria (BZÖ), who each made significant gains.[1][2]

Background

Prior to amendments made in 2017, the Carinthian constitution mandated that cabinet positions in the state government (state councillors, German: 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 was a perpetual coalition of all parties that qualified for at least one state councillor.[3]

In 2005, then-Governor and former federal leader of the Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ) Jörg Haider split from the party due to internal disputes, and founded the Alliance for the Future of Austria (BZÖ). The Freedom Party in Carinthia, then the FPÖ's state branch and led by Haider, changed its allegiance and became the Carinthian branch of the BZÖ. The large majority of its leadership and structure followed, with only a small minority defecting to the FPÖ's new Carinthian branch. Shortly after the 2008 federal election, Haider was killed in a car accident. He was succeeded by Gerhard Dörfler, who became the new Governor of Carinthia and leader of the FPK. In the 2009 Carinthian state election, Dörfler led the party to a strong victory under the name "Freedom Party in Carinthia – BZÖ List Jörg Haider". The FPÖ's new state branch won 3.8%, failing to enter the Landtag.

In December 2009, the FPK split from the BZÖ in protest of new federal leader Josef Bucher's policies, becoming an independent party operating in Carinthia.[4][5] The party announced it would support the FPÖ on a national level, while the FPÖ's state branch would be dissolved. The FPÖ and FPK compared their new relationship to that of the CDU/CSU in Germany.[6] The BZÖ subsequently founded a new Carinthian branch to compete with the FPK.[7]

Between 2009 and 2013, Dörfler's government suffered a string of scandals involving current and former government officials, including the late Haider. In January 2010, Vice Governor Uwe Scheuch was exposed for offering Austrian citizenship to a Russian investor in exchange for investments in Carinthia and donations to the then-BZÖ. Scheuch resigned from all political positions in mid-2012 and was found guilty in December.[8] In July 2012, a government tax consultant was caught up in a corruption scandal involving the FPK and BZÖ, which led to an early election being scheduled for March 2013.[9]

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.[10]

Contesting parties

The table below lists parties represented in the previous Landtag.

Name			Ideology	Leader	2009 result
					Votes (%)	Seats	Councillors
	FPK	Freedom Party in Carinthia Die Freiheitlichen in Kärnten	Right-wing populism Euroscepticism	Gerhard Dörfler	44.9%	17 / 36	4 / 7
	SPÖ	Social Democratic Party of Austria Sozialdemokratische Partei Österreichs	Social democracy	Peter Kaiser	28.8%	11 / 36	2 / 7
	ÖVP	Austrian People's Party Österreichische Volkspartei	Christian democracy	Wolfgang Waldner	16.8%	6 / 36	1 / 7
	GRÜNE	The Greens – The Green Alternative Die Grünen – Die Grüne Alternative	Green politics	Rolf Holub	5.1%	2 / 36

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

• Team Stronach (TS)
• Alliance for the Future of Austria (BZÖ)
• Pirate Party of Austria (PIRAT)
• Livable Party of Austria (LPÖ)
• Social Alliance Carinthia (ASOK)
• List Strong (STARK)

Results

Party		Votes	%	+/−	Seats	+/−	Coun.	+/−
	Social Democratic Party of Austria (SPÖ)	120,396	37.13	+8.39	14	+3	3	+1
	Freedom Party in Carinthia (FPK)	54,634	16.85	–28.04	6	–11	1	–3
	Austrian People's Party (ÖVP)	46,696	14.40	–2.43	5	–1	1	±0
	The Greens – The Green Alternative (GRÜNE)	39,241	12.10	+6.95	5	+3	1	+1
	Team Stronach (TS)	36,256	11.18	New	4	New	1	New
	Alliance for the Future of Austria (BZÖ)	20,745	6.40	New	2	New	0	New
	Pirate Party of Austria (PIRAT)	3,199	0.99	New	0	New	0	New
	Livable Party of Austria (LPÖ)	1,881	0.58	New	0	New	0	New
	Social Alliance Carinthia (ASOK)	747	0.23	New	0	New	0	New
	List Strong (STARK)	488	0.15	+0.09	0	±0	0	±0
Invalid/blank votes		6,924	–	–	–	–	–	–
Total		331,207	100	–	36	0	7	0
Registered voters/turnout		440,748	75.15	–6.63	–	–	–	–
Source: Carinthian Government

Popular vote SPÖ   37.13% FPK   16.85% ÖVP   14.40% GRÜNE   12.10% TS   11.18% BZÖ   6.40% Other   1.94%

Landtag seats SPÖ   38.89% FPK   16.67% ÖVP   13.89% GRÜNE   13.89% TS   11.11% BZÖ   5.56%

Results by constituency

Constituency	SPÖ		FPK		ÖVP		Grüne		TS		BZÖ		Others	Total seats	Turnout
	%	S	%	S	%	S	%	S	%	S	%	S	%
Klagenfurt	40.0	3	12.4	1	13.3	1	16.5	1	9.8		6.1		2.0	6	74.9
Carinthia East	37.2	3	19.7	1	14.1	1	8.9		10.6	1	7.7		1.8	6	75.8
Villach	40.3	3	14.7	1	11.1		12.8	1	12.7	1	5.9		2.5	6	73.6
Carinthia West	30.7	2	20.6	1	19.1	1	10.2		12.1	1	5.7		1.7	5	76.0
Remaining seats		3		2		2		3		1		2		13
Total	37.1	14	16.8	6	14.4	5	12.1	5	11.1	4	6.4	2	1.9	36	75.1
Source: Carinthian Government

References

1. "Tanking Support: Austrian Right-Wing Populists Lose Ground". Der Spiegel. 4 March 2013.
2. "Landtag election on 3 March 2013". Carinthian Government.
3. "Carinthia abolishes the Proporz". Die Presse. 1 June 2017.
4. "Bucher and Petzner hope to the last". Der Standard. 30 December 2009.
5. ""That is the dictatorship of the Sternhof"". Der Standard. 17 January 2010.
6. "FPÖ and Carinthian BZÖ merge". Der Standard. 16 December 2009.
7. "Founding convention of the Carinthian BZÖ". Der Standard. 30 January 2010.
8. "Scheuch: Seven months and a fine". ORF. 19 December 2012.
9. "Why the Carinthians choose a year earlier". Der Standard. 1 March 2013.
10. "LT2013_Mandate.pdf" (PDF). Carinthian Government.