Despite the vaccination, the corona pandemic is not over, the number of infections and hospitalizations is currently many times higher than at the beginning of September 2020. But, unlike in the run-up to the Vienna election a year ago, the topic plays in the preparation and in the election campaign for the Upper Austria elections on September 26th hardly mattered. With this in mind, the federal government was also extremely cautious about measures or even just comments on the fourth wave.
Especially in the Innviertel, there is a large corona and vaccination skeptic scene, in the state elections (and in some cases also in the municipal council elections) the relevant party “Human Freedom Basic Rights” (MFG) also competes. In the hope of consolidation after the disaster of 2015, VP Governor Thomas Stelzer has to try to keep FP voters willing to change at that time happy. Especially since the coalition partner, also under the comparatively moderate state party leader LHStv. Manfred Haimbuchner, tries to prevent a “Post-Ibiza” crash like in Vienna with the vaccination and action-critical FP line.
So were von Stelzer – who started the debate about an end to the free tests in the summer – and health officer LHStv. Christine Haberlander (VP) recently stopped hearing calls for tightening up, only a reference to the responsibility of the federal government.
Stelzer reluctant to lockdown the unvaccinated
Stelzer no longer wants a compulsory vaccination, which he was one of the first to demand last year. In the APA interview he only pleaded for “unconventional low-threshold offers” for vaccination. Austria had agreed on this line, so the discussion was “closed”, he said. He doesn’t even think about it in the Landesspitlers because “we have a very high vaccination rate there”. Stelzer was also extremely reluctant about a lockdown for unvaccinated people. The vaccination should not become a “fungus for society”. At the same time, “the vaccinated, as all legal experts tell us, shouldn’t be burdened with additional restrictions.”
The federal government has also so far avoided making the new corona wave an issue – even if doctors, hospital managers, experts, some industries or opposition politicians (especially the SP) are loudly calling for measures to prevent another lockdown, and Most of the countries are also hoping for guidelines from the federal government. The turquoise-green coalition has scheduled a round of experts and countries for next week – according to Health Minister Wolfgang Mckstein (Greens), the aim is to forge a “very specific plan” for dealing with the pandemic in autumn.
Experts doubt big measures before the election
The fact that major measures will be announced in Upper Austria two and a half weeks before the round of the Landtag, the local councilor and the mayor is doubted by many – and opinion researchers see the elections as a motive for the federal government’s previous reluctance.
In Upper Austria, Governor Stelzer avoids giving the pandemic great weight – even with regard to the course of the elections: Despite Corona, September 26 will bring an “election as we know it,” he told APA. Of course, it can be assumed that postal votes will be used a lot more than usual.
The state has not yet explicitly promoted this contact-free option for voting. It was precisely this that prevented an even more massive drop in voter turnout in the Vienna municipal council elections in October 2020. Postal voting was used more than ever: almost 44 percent of the votes came by voting card – more than double the previous top ratings. The fall of 9.5 percentage points to 65.3 percent in voter turnout was mainly due to the fact that many disappointed FP voters stayed at home.
Upper Austria leads the way in terms of voter turnout
If the corona situation gets even worse, the fear of infection at the polling station could well suppress participation in Upper Austria. At the moment, the country is still the absolute front runner with 81.6 percent – especially since it even recorded a slight increase in 2015 for the first time in a long time and uniquely in Austria.
Efforts to prevent a Corona slump in participation, however, are only made selectively, in individual municipalities and cities, or in the election campaigns of individual parties. The SP-led city of Linz offers open-air voting and voting cards in the container in front of the town hall. The SP strongly advertises online for low-risk voting, for example with “You have the postal vote”. NEOS ask for “Letters for Felix”.
