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13 October 1996 1999 → | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
21 seats to the European Parliament | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Turnout | 67.73% | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Results by state | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
European elections were held inAustria on 13 October 1996 to elect the 21 Austrianmembers of the European Parliament.
In 1996, Austria was a country with a population of 7.9 million (5.8 million voters). The federal government was a "grand coalition" of the Social Democratic Party (SPÖ) and the Christian Democratic Party (ÖVP) and was led by ChancellorFranz Vranitzky.
At the lastnational election in 1995, the parties obtained the following results: SPÖ: 38.1%, ÖVP: 28.3%, FPÖ: 21.9%, Liberals: 5.5% and Greens: 4.8%.
An asterisk (*) indicates Members standing for re-election.
The electoral system used for the European elections was based on proportional representation, comparable to the system traditionally used in Austria for legislative elections.
The parties put forward lists of candidates. The seats are shared out on the basis of the percentage of the votes obtained by each list. Because of the limited number of seats, the lists were identical for the whole of Austria; there were no regional lists. The threshold required to win a seat was 4%. Candidates who win 7% of the total 'preference votes' obtained by their party would win one of the seats accorded to the party, irrespective of their position on the list. The lists of candidates had to be signed by three members of the national parliament, or by one Member of the European Parliament, or by 2600 voters. The minimum voting age was 18. European citizens residing in Austria were entitled to vote provided that they did not vote in their country of origin in the June 1994 European elections. 7205 European citizens registered and fulfilled that condition.
The following political parties entered lists for the European elections on 13 October 1996:
| Party or alliance | Votes | % | Seats | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| EPP | Austrian People's Party | 1,124,921 | 29.65 | 7 | ||
| S&D | Social Democratic Party of Austria | 1,105,910 | 29.15 | 6 | ||
| NI | Freedom Party of Austria | 1,044,604 | 27.53 | 6 | ||
| G | The Greens – The Green Alternative | 258,250 | 6.81 | 1 | ||
| ELDR | Liberal Forum | 161,583 | 4.26 | 1 | ||
| NI | The Neutrals | 48,600 | 1.28 | 0 | ||
| NI | Forum Handicap | 32,621 | 0.86 | 0 | ||
| GUE-NGL | Communist Party of Austria | 17,656 | 0.47 | 0 | ||
| Total | 3,794,145 | 100.00 | 21 | |||
| Valid votes | 3,794,145 | 96.58 | ||||
| Invalid/blank votes | 134,393 | 3.42 | ||||
| Total votes | 3,928,538 | 100.00 | ||||
| Registered voters/turnout | 5,800,377 | 67.73 | ||||
| Source:Ministry of Interior | ||||||

The ÖVP won a plurality of nationwide votes, winning five federal states out of nine. The SPÖ and the FPÖ each won two states; in particular, the SPÖ prevailed in the capital city-state of Vienna. The ÖVP recorded their best results in Vorarlberg, the country's westernmost and second-smallest state. Simultaneously, the SPÖ performed the worst there, at just 13.7%. Neither party reached at least 40% in any state: the SPÖ's 38.1% in Burgenland was the best performance for any party in any state.
| State | SPÖ | ÖVP | FPÖ | GRÜNE | LiF | The Neutrals | Forum Handicap | KPÖ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 38.1 | 33.1 | 21.8 | 3.0 | 2.5 | 0.6 | 0.6 | 0.2 | ||
| 34.4 | 19.6 | 37.2 | 3.9 | 2.6 | 0.8 | 1.3 | 0.3 | ||
| 29.3 | 35.7 | 23.1 | 5.3 | 4.2 | 1.3 | 0.7 | 0.5 | ||
| 28.5 | 30.9 | 28.1 | 6.5 | 3.5 | 1.5 | 0.7 | 0.4 | ||
| 24.8 | 29.7 | 31.3 | 7.6 | 4.4 | 1.1 | 0.8 | 0.3 | ||
| 29.2 | 30.4 | 28.9 | 5.8 | 3.2 | 1.1 | 1.0 | 0.6 | ||
| 17.0 | 33.7 | 33.7 | 8.6 | 4.6 | 1.2 | 0.9 | 0.4 | ||
| 13.9 | 36.2 | 33.1 | 9.0 | 4.9 | 2.2 | 0.7 | 0.2 | ||
| 34.0 | 21.9 | 24.2 | 10.1 | 6.6 | 1.5 | 1.0 | 0.7 | ||
| 29.2 | 29.7 | 27.6 | 6.8 | 4.3 | 1.3 | 0.9 | 0.5 | ||
| Source:Austrian Interior Ministry | |||||||||