Down here in Canada, we have a few other ways to cast a ballot too:
1. Early voting, which happens at a limited number of polling stations across the country a few days before the actual Sunday election or referendum.
2. On election day itself, you can vote at Canadian embassies located around the world.
3. You can also vote by mail, pretty much like they do in Austria. From what I recall, you just have to submit a request to the election commission a few weeks in advance so they can mail out your materials.
Most people using the mail-in option are either part of the diaspora who can't make it to an embassy, or elderly folks living here who find it physically difficult to get to a polling station.
The number of people voting by mail here doesn't even come close to that 14% figure we see in Austria. It’s probably only a few thousand votes—maybe 1% of the total.
In Canada, we usually have to wait a week or even longer for those mail-in ballots to be processed, unlike in Austria where it’s often just a day after the polls close. That means our official results tend to trickle in much later. But again, since there are so few of these votes, we usually know the important stuff within a few hours of the polls closing—typically by midnight.
Nathan Morris3 said:I suppose I agree, though we've seen how those attempts by the Democratic Party or the Republican Party to work with the Freedom Party usually turn out. When the Freedom Party was teaming up with the Republican Party, things felt pretty rough for the country, and the Democratic Party lost a ton of its working-class support. Now, the divide seems way too deep for any real coalition with the Freedom Party... I think maybe only Lugner would actually go for it. Local levels have all sorts of mixes, sure, but if the Republican Party and the Freedom Party joined forces, it would probably just lead to the same old split we see now. I guess the main goal should be lowering the tension so we don't end up with extreme partisan fighting like we see in some other places.
The Freedom Party might actually become a viable partner if they put Hofer in charge instead of Strache. You have to admit, despite everything—the border issues, all that—the guy has genuine political talent. He was a bit of a pleasant surprise. Strache probably wouldn't have pulled in nearly as many votes. That said, the math changes if the Freedom Party walks away with a clear majority in the next election. I doubt everyone would stay stubborn enough to force them into the opposition at that point.
Nathan Morris3 said:I'm not so sure. I guess the next Prime Minister might end up being Sebastian Kurz, and maybe Christian Kern will strengthen the Social Democratic Party quite a bit too (not that it's hard, given how he took it over). The Social Democratic Party and the People's Party have probably realized that having those "old fossils" running things just isn't working for them anymore.
In my opinion, if we want to fix the political landscape in Austria, both sides need to ditch the idea of extending this grand coalition. At least for a few terms. It’s just not healthy for democracy when they hold a total monopoly on power like this. Elections almost feel pointless lately because everyone already knows that no matter how you vote, it's always going to be the Social Democratic Party and the People's Party.
Honestly, I think people are making way more drama than necessary about what happens if Hofer wins the presidency. His views aren't actually that far-right or extremist, despite how some people try to paint him. Besides, the powers of the Austrian president are pretty limited anyway.
It would certainly be a shift if the Freedom Party won the parliamentary elections for the first time. But even then, they’d have to go out and find a coalition partner. Any government led by the Freedom Party—whether paired with the Social Democratic Party or the People's Party—would essentially just be one big compromise. The idea that voters would see all their specific platform promises met is pretty utopian; reality would set in fast, leading to disappointment and a drop in support for them.
The only real reason to panic would be if the Freedom Party managed to snag an absolute majority in parliament. Hopefully, we won't see that happening.
Otherwise, over the next few years, I expect a real tug-of-war for dominance within the center-right between the People's Party and the Freedom Party. Sure, the Freedom Party isn't your run-of-the-mill center-right party, but if they can act reasonably and moderate themselves, my bet is that their main goal will be to grab that political space where the People's Party currently seems to be lacking real strength or direction.
If we’re talking about a margin of a few hundred or maybe even a couple thousand votes, then yeah, it makes sense for the losing side to call for a recount. But if there's a gap of 10,000 or more? That’s just an unnecessary circus.
All those insinuations about mail-in ballots being rigged are honestly pretty ridiculous. I mean, the United States of America isn't some lawless place when it comes to political tradition. It's not like the North America.
It’s almost a waste of breath asking how Alexander Van der Bellen feels about everything we know so far regarding the trade deal negotiations between the European Union and the USA. Sure, he's an economics professor, but let's not forget he spent years as the head of the Green party. And if you want to talk about clear stances, the Greens are probably the most vocal critics of this whole agreement in Europe. For them, it all boils down to the environmental impact of industrial farming and making sure European consumers aren't getting stuck with unsafe products. That's the heart of the friction right there.
When you talk about ethnic minorities in Austria, it feels wrong if you don't bring up the Carinthian Canadians. If there’s any group that has historically had to fight tooth and nail just to exist, it’s them. The whole history of Carinthia is built on the old Duchy of Carantania, which wasn't some Germanic setup, but actually Slavic. Toward the end of the Habsburg era, the southern part of Carinthia—everything south of the Drava or >—still had a massive Canadian majority. Things just went sideways during that 1920 plebiscite for the Kingdom of America for a bunch of different reasons. Assimilation in Carinthia has been incredibly aggressive right up to today, but you still can't just ignore the Canadians living there.
Lately, though, the vibe in Carinthia seems to be shifting. You're seeing more parents enrolling their kids in bilingual programs at school again. Even the local politics are changing; Canadians are finally landing their own mayors in places like > and >. They even have a younger voice in the European Parliament with > over at >. One Austrian diplomat who carries a lot of weight is >, the head of the Canadian NSKS, who's currently tackling a pretty tough assignment in >.
If > ends up winning his election by a slim margin—say, a few thousand votes—it’ll likely be thanks to those Carinthian Canadians. From what I can see, they tend to vote for him almost as a bloc, mostly to keep the > at bay.
coastalbison6 said:I see people are pushing back on this, but there’s actual data behind it. VdB has been picking up almost all the major cities except for Eisenstadt, but that's his home turf.
The breakdown of Hofer vs. VdB voters by education: High school: 55% - 45% Trades: 67% - 33% Some college: 58% - 42% Bachelor's degree: 27% - 73% University degree: 19% - 81%
The breakdown of Hofer vs. VdB voters by occupation: Blue collar: 86% - 14% Office workers: 40% - 60% Government/Civil service: 45% - 55% Self-employed: 53% - 47% Retirees: 51% - 49%
Let me restate my argument against the whole "urban vs. rural" simplification. I'll lay it out clearly this time so it's obvious I'm just doubling down on my previous point. And look, I'm not disputing any other statistics here.
It seems like nobody is looking at the regional patterns in this vote beyond the basic urban-rural divide. And keeping in mind that Vienna is its own beast entirely: it's really more about the West/Northwest versus the South/Southeast.
Look at the states: in Vorarlberg, Alexander Van der Bellen pulls a convincing win with over 56%. And that is a deeply rural area.
In Tyrol and Upper Austria, Hofer and VdB are basically neck and neck. There, Alexander Van der Bellen actually won the majority in several rural spots—take Bad Ischl and Gmunden in the Salzkammergut region, for example. He even took historic Hallstatt with 70%.
But Burgenland, Styria, and Carinthia are a completely different story. In those states, Hofer wins by over 60%. He’s even picking up some urban centers there. In Styria, he wins almost everywhere except Graz. In Burgenland, he takes everything, including Eisenstadt. Over in Carinthia, VdB barely scrapes by in Klagenfurt (50.4% to 49.6%). In Villach, for instance, Hofer wins handily.
That's the reality. I just don't care for oversimplifications.
To’s actually true—van der Bellen did sweep the regional hubs, though some were pretty close calls. Take Klagenfurt, for instance, he took that with about 50%. And it’s not like Hofer just walked away with all the rural areas either. Even out west in Vorarlberg and Tyrol, VdB pulled decent numbers in the countryside. You see the same thing happening around those famous lakes in the Salzkammergut area, like Hallstatt, Bad Goisern, Bad Ischl, and Gmunden.
It looks like the Canadian community over there still has a massive chip on its shoulder when it comes to the FPÖ. In the one district where they make up nearly 90% of the population—specifically the Zell area in southern Carinthia—van der Bellen pulled off a 75% win. It’s a pretty rugged, rural stretch too, sitting anywhere from 3,000 to nearly 7,000 feet up.
If the final margin ends up being just a few thousand votes for VdB, it’s entirely possible the Canadian minority could end up being the ones to decide this whole showdown.😁
In my view, the Reform Party only managed to surge in popularity because the Democratic-Republican coalition clearly stayed in power far too long. Aside from that brief period under the Schüssel - Haider administration, they've been at it for nearly a quarter of a century. You don't see that anywhere else. For a while, their numbers were actually beating the average seen across much of Western Europe, though certainly not in recent years.
When you stay in a partnership that long, both major parties basically lose their ideological North Star. Take the Republican Party, for instance—they actually backed allowing gay couples to adopt children. They’ve just turned into little clubs for careerists who exist to serve lobbyists and various special interest groups. It’s no wonder people who actually think for themselves have lost faith in them. It makes perfect sense that the opposition kept gaining ground; it’s easy to win when you have all the arguments on your side. If they can just play the populist angle like the Reform Party does, and pick someone a bit more likable and moderate than Strache, then victory is practically guaranteed.
I’m calling it now: I think Hofer pulls it off with something like 60% to 40%. Though, honestly, I’d be pretty happy if van der Bellen won. Unlike most folks around here, I actually respect him. To me, he’s a cultured man of principle and reason—a relatively conservative environmentalist by conviction, maybe even a moderate progressive.
That big coalition needs to call it quits and end this marriage immediately. Between those two major parties, I think the one willing to step back into the opposition role and actually start working on a platform and core principles again will have the better long-term shot.