Vienna elections

• General information on Viennese elections
• Active voting authorisation
• Passive voting authorisation
• Useful links

General information on Viennese elections

The term "Vienna elections" refers to the Vienna municipal council and district council elections, which are held simultaneously.

As the federal capital Vienna is also a federal province in its own right, its bodies also exercise legislative and administrative functions at provincial level. The municipal council is also the provincial parliament, the city senate also exercises the functions of the provincial government and the mayor is also the provincial governor.

The Municipal Council, which is made up of 100 people, is elected for five years at a time.

In Vienna, each of the 23 districts has its own "district parliament", i.e. the district council, which is elected by the Austrian and EU citizens. These district councils are made up of district councillors whose number depends on the number of inhabitants.

The Mayor of Vienna and the City Senate are elected by the City Council in the first session of the term of office.

Active voting authorisation

In Viennese elections, active visitors, i.e. those entitled to vote, are

• all Austrian citizens, in the district representation elections all EU citizens,
• who are at least 16 years old on election day,
• are not excluded from the right to vote and
• have their primary residence in Vienna.

Only eligible voters whose names are included in the finalised electoral roll may participate in an election.

You can inspect the electoral roll or apply to have it corrected. You can find more information on this under Registration of eligible voters (voter register, electoral roll).

Voting in Vienna elections is also possible by voting card (in those election stations within the municipal area that accept voting cards, or by postal voting). If necessary, the visit by the "flying electoral commission" (special electoral board) can be requested.

There is no obligation to vote!

Passive voting authorisation

In Viennese elections, passive voters, i.e. those entitled to stand as a candidate, are

• all Austrian citizens, in the district representation elections all EU citizens,
• who are at least 18 years old on election day,
• are not excluded from the right to vote and 
• have their primary residence in Vienna.

Useful links

• Vienna municipal council (→ Magistrate of the City of Vienna)^{German text}
• District councils in Vienna (→ Magistrate of the City of Vienna)^{German text}