2003 Tyrolean state election

28 September 2003

All 36 seats in the Landtag of Tyrol
19 seats needed for a majority
Turnout294,527 (60.9%)
Decrease 19.7%
  First party Second party
 
SPÖ
Leader Herwig van Staa Hannes Gschwentner
Party ÖVP SPÖ
Last election 18 seats, 47.2% 8 seats, 21.8%
Seats won 20 9
Seat change Increase 2 Increase 1
Popular vote 144,774 75,019
Percentage 49.9% 25.8%
Swing Increase 2.7% Increase 4.1%

  Third party Fourth party
 
Party Greens FPÖ
Last election 3 seats, 8.0% 7 seats, 19.6%
Seats won 5 2
Seat change Increase 2 Decrease 5
Popular vote 45,239 23,113
Percentage 15.6% 8.0%
Swing Increase 7.6% Decrease 11.6%

Governor before election

Herwig van Staa
ÖVP

Elected Governor

Herwig van Staa
ÖVP

The 2003 Tyrolean state election was held on 28 September 2003 to elect the members of the Landtag of Tyrol.

The Austrian People's Party (ÖVP) regained the absolute majority it had lost in 1999, winning just under 50% of votes cast. The Social Democratic Party of Austria (SPÖ) made gains, and The Greens achieved one of their best election results nationwide up to this point, winning 15.6% and five seats. This was enabled by a collapse in support for the Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ), which lost more than half its vote share and five of its seven seats.

The election was marked by a major decline in participation due to the repeal of compulsory voting; turnout fell from 81% to 61%. As a result, only the Greens actually gained votes compared to 1999, recording an increase of 17,000. By contrast, the ÖVP lost 19,000 votes, the SPÖ 500, and the FPÖ 45,000.

Despite regaining its majority, the ÖVP under Governor Herwig van Staa chose to renew the incumbent coalition with the SPÖ.

Background

In the 1999 election, the ÖVP narrowly lost its absolute majority for the first time in history; the SPÖ and FPÖ each made gains, while the Greens suffered losses. The ÖVP formed a coalition with the SPÖ.

In 2002, Governor Wendelin Weingartner his pending retirement. He was replaced by Innsbruck mayor Herwig van Staa in October.

Electoral system

The 36 seats of the Landtag of Tyrol are elected via open list proportional representation in a two-step process. The seats are distributed between nine multi-member constituencies, corresponding to the districts of Tyrol. 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.

Contesting parties

The table below lists parties represented in the previous Landtag.

Name Ideology Leader 1999 result
Votes (%) Seats
ÖVP Austrian People's Party
Österreichische Volkspartei
Christian democracy Herwig van Staa 47.2%
18 / 36
SPÖ Social Democratic Party of Austria
Sozialdemokratische Partei Österreichs
Social democracy Hannes Gschwentner 21.8%
8 / 36
FPÖ Freedom Party of Austria
Freiheitliche Partei Österreichs
Right-wing populism
Euroscepticism
 ? 19.6%
7 / 36
GRÜNE Green Alternative Tyrol
Grüne Alternative Tirol
Green politics  ? 8.0%
3 / 36

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

Results

Party Votes  % +/− Seats +/−
Austrian People's Party (ÖVP) 144,774 49.89 +2.67 20 +2
Social Democratic Party of Austria (SPÖ) 75,019 25.85 +4.08 9 +1
The Greens – The Green Alternative (GRÜNE) 45,239 15.59 +7.56 5 +2
Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ) 23,113 7.97 –11.64 2 –5
Communist Party of Austria (KPÖ) 2,032 0.70 +0.56 0 ±0
Invalid/blank votes 4,350
Total 294,527 100 36 0
Registered voters/turnout 483,559 60.91 –19.66
Source: Tyrolean Government
Popular vote
ÖVP
49.89%
SPÖ
25.85%
GRÜNE
15.59%
FPÖ
7.97%
KPÖ
0.70%
Landtag seats
ÖVP
55.56%
SPÖ
25.00%
GRÜNE
13.89%
FPÖ
5.56%

Results by constituency

Constituency ÖVP SPÖ Grüne FPÖ KPÖ Total
seats
Turnout
 %S  %S  %S  %S  %
Innsbruck City35.0228.4127.017.81.8454.6
Imst61.9222.29.56.3263.9
Innsbruck-Land46.6326.2218.018.11.2662.4
Kitzbühel53.4126.211.29.2161.5
Kufstein47.5227.8113.510.11.1361.9
Landeck56.5129.98.94.7164.7
Lienz62.6217.012.28.2263.1
Reutte56.9123.812.86.4161.6
Schwaz53.0226.4112.77.9359.8
Remaining seats443213
Total49.92025.9915.658.020.73660.9
Source: Tyrolean Government

References

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