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VoteRights

Austria

Europe · at

Parliamentary republic; federal president elected by direct popular vote in a two-round system.

Profile last reviewed July 23, 2026

Austria's modern franchise dates from the founding of the republic: women voted for the first time in February 1919, on the same terms as men. Competitive elections were extinguished between 1934 and 1945 and rebuilt afterwards. Two things make Austria unusual — 16-year-olds vote in every national election, and in 2016 the Constitutional Court annulled a presidential run-off purely over how postal ballots had been handled, without anyone showing the declared result was wrong.

How voting works today

Voting age
16 and over
Voter registration
Automatic
Identification
Any identity document
Compulsory voting
No
Postal voting
Available to all
Early voting
Not available
Online voting
Not available
Voting from abroad
Available to all

Voters are entered on the electoral roll automatically from the residence register. Postal voting is open to every voter and needs no reason; citizens abroad vote by post or at a representation.

How the franchise changed

Every entry records a change in who could vote, or how — expansions, restrictions and procedural reforms alike.

  1. 1907Expansion

    Universal male suffrage was introduced for elections to the imperial Reichsrat.

  2. 1918Expansion

    The republic enfranchised women on the same terms as men; they voted for the first time in February 1919.

  3. 1934Restriction

    Authoritarian rule ended competitive elections, and the Anschluss of 1938 removed them entirely until the end of the war.

  4. 1945Expansion

    Democratic elections were restored in the Second Republic.

  5. 1992Expansion

    The voting age was lowered to 18.

  6. 2007Expansion

    Austria became the first EU state to lower the voting age to 16 for every national election, and introduced postal voting in the same reform.

  7. 2016Reform

    The Constitutional Court annulled the presidential run-off over how postal ballots had been opened and counted, and ordered a re-run held that December.

Safeguards on the count

Ballot type
Paper ballots
Post-election audit
Judicial challenge only
Election administration
Mixed / decentralised
Domestic observers
Yes
International observers
Yes

Ballots are paper and counted by hand by electoral boards on which the parties are represented, with the Interior Ministry handling administration. There is no routine statistical audit; challenges go to the Constitutional Court, which has shown it will annul a vote over procedure alone.

Worth knowing

  • Austria was the first EU country to let 16-year-olds vote in every national election, from 2007.
  • The 2016 presidential run-off was annulled because postal ballots were opened early and by the wrong people — not because any evidence showed the count was wrong. The re-run returned the same winner.

Elections in the database

People

Sources

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