On the evening of March 20th, it will be clear who will play a key role in shaping the fortunes of the parishes in Austria over the next five years: Then there will be the results of the Austrian parish elections with around 4.5 million voters.
In Upper Austria there are a total of around 910,000 Catholics, but it is not possible to say exactly how many of them are allowed to vote, says Michael Kraml from the Diocese of Linz. “Confirmation gives the right to vote, and because the age of confirmation differs from parish to parish, it’s not so easy to say how many are entitled to vote,” he says.
At least 50 percent voted
A structural reform is currently taking place in the Diocese of Linz, in which the parishes are being reorganized. Several existing parishes will be merged into new, large ones. “The current parishes will remain as parishes and will continue to have their own parish councils. These will then also send members to the new parishes, who can have a say in decisions there,” says Kraml. However, the aim of the reform is for the parishes to work together better in the future and use synergies.
In Upper Austria about 65 percent of all parish council members are elected, after the last election there were about 7975 members. The principle of belonging applies: Confirmed Catholics can vote in the parish to which they feel they belong. For example, people can vote in their parish of origin, although they actually live in a different parish.
Different models are permitted for the elections: In most of the more than 450 parishes in Upper Austria, several people can be elected from a list of candidates on the ballot paper, similar to, for example, in mayoral elections.
The candidates can be nominated in advance. The ballot paper can then be thrown into a ballot box on certain days or sent by postal ballot.
“Primary elections” are held in about 100 parishes: there are no proposed persons on the ballot paper, the parishioners are free to propose other parishioners. The elected persons are then contacted, starting with the candidate with the most votes, and can accept the election until all seats are filled.
In the municipalities in which elections are based on this model, votes can still be cast until the end of February. The candidates will be contacted in March so that by the 20th all parish councils will be in place. (vaba)
More information on dioezese-linz.at/pgr/wahl2022
Source: Nachrichten
