This was passed in the state parliament at the beginning of 2020 with the votes of the ÖVP and FPÖ – much to the annoyance of the opposition. For them this is way too much money, namely almost as much as for a National Council election (seven million euros) in all of Austria, was the criticism after the decision. In addition, it does not include the local elections.
In addition to the upper limit to be monitored by a transparency panel, the Upper Austrian Party Financing Act also stipulates an annual donation limit of a maximum of 200,000 euros. The independent Senate can impose fines of fifteen percent of the amount exceeded if both limits are exceeded by less than ten percent, up to a quarter for ten to 15 percent, up to 100 percent for 25 to 50 percent and up to 50 percent for violations that are greater than 50 percent 150 percent of the excess.
According to the ÖVP and FPÖ, the six million euros are based on Lower Austria, which is comparable in size, and donations are more stringent than federal law, according to the law. The SPÖ criticized this new regulation as incomplete, as it does not include the costs of municipal council and mayoral elections, which will also take place on September 26th. She wanted a limit of 3.8 million euros for all three elections.
According to the Greens, the law enables each person eligible to vote in Upper Austria to spend almost five times as much as in the National Council election – namely 5.43 euros per person (compared to 1.12 euros in the National Council election, note). That is why they spoke of a “land of milk and honey for election campaigns”. By transferring the six million euros to the electorate, the Neos, who are not represented in the state parliament, argue that they wanted a constitutional provision applicable to the federal, state and local governments with an upper electoral cost limit of one euro per eligible voter.
In the last state election in 2015, the ÖVP had a problem with the seven million euro limit for the election campaign that was in force at the time. It exceeded the limit by exactly 339,551.35 euros. However, this did not have any consequences. Because the Constitutional Court had decided that the upper limit for election campaign costs, which was still decreed by the federal government at the time, only applies to federal elections. The states themselves are responsible for limiting campaign costs in state and municipal elections. The six million euro limit will apply for the first time until September 26, albeit only for the state elections. The period for spending begins on July 6th.
