election-watch.eu

Vienna, 12 August 2022: In 2022 there will be another federal presidential election in Austria and tens of thousands of election officers will once again be needed to ensure that the elections run smoothly. The Austrian presidential election in 2016 and the problems that arose in connection with the conduct of the election drew attention to the issue of polling station commissions (poll workers) and raised the question of a possible need for reform. Even in previous elections, it was difficult to engage a sufficient number of polling station commission members for this task. In addition, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) has repeatedly found in the past that in some polling stations only polling station commission members from one of the nominating parties could be found, which could call into question a neutral atmosphere. The government program 2020 (ÖVP/Greens) therefore envisages a reform of the election committee. Such a reform has not yet taken place.

In its latest issue of the Österreichische Gemeinde-Zeitung (Austrian journal for municipalities), the Städtebund (Association of Cities) published a summary of the research results about polling station commission members from VieCER (University of Vienna) and wahlbeochtung.org.

Wahlbeisitz in Österreich – Österreichische Gemeindezeitung final

poll wokers study