The first polling stations open at 6:30 a.m. and the last ones close at 4:00 p.m. A first projection should be available shortly afterwards. 48 seats in the Styrian state parliament need to be divided. So far, the ÖVP or SPÖ have always provided the state governor in the Green Mark. This time it could be a blue state governor for the first time.
In the most recent surveys and also in the state results of the National Council election at the end of September, the FPÖ was clearly in first place in Styria. In the (few) surveys, the Blues achieved well over 30 percent in some cases, the lead over the ÖVP was up to six percentage points. The People’s Party, on the other hand, will probably have to prepare for severe losses and could lose the state governor’s chair again, as it did in 2005 under Waltraud Klasnic.
The SPÖ showed less movement in the surveys than the ÖVP and FPÖ, but was usually in third place behind the ÖVP and FPÖ, recently quite clearly. The red top candidate Anton Lang is still hoping for a three-way fight and wants to come first, as do ÖVP leader Christopher Drexler and FPÖ man Mario Kunasek. According to the surveys, the Greens have to prepare for significant losses after their record result in 2019 and are probably competing with NEOS and KPÖ for fourth place. However, all three of the smaller state parliament parties have a very good chance of remaining in the state parliament.
Drexler wants to defend first place
In the 2019 state elections, the ÖVP – then still under Hermann Schützenhöfer – achieved a brilliant election victory with 36.05 percent. Successor Drexler wants to defend this first place. The previously strongest state parliament party, the SPÖ, fell by 6.27 percentage points to 23.02 percent in 2019, which caused the then top candidate Michael Schickhofer to resign. He was followed by Anton Lang, who, like Drexler, is now running as the top candidate for the election for the first time. In 2019, the FPÖ lost 9.27 percentage points to 17.49 percent as a result of the Ibiza affair. The Greens achieved 12.08 percent in 2019, a record result. The KPÖ, which has been in the state parliament since 2005, also gained with 1.77 percentage points to 5.99 percent and NEOS with 2.73 percentage points to 5.37 percent. Voter turnout in 2019 was 63.46 percent. The distribution of mandates in the 48-member state parliament was ÖVP 18, SPÖ twelve, FPÖ eight, Greens six and KPÖ and NEOS two seats each.
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Source: Nachrichten
