Too time-consuming?

One in ten people abroad applied for a polling card in 2019

According to the Foreign Ministry, 600,000 Austrians live abroad. Only one in ten people applied for a polling card for the 2019 National Council elections. The World Association of Austrians Abroad is now calling for the procedure to be simplified.

Currently, an application must be submitted in order to be or remain registered in the electoral register. An entry is then valid for ten years. However, Austrians living abroad must also apply for a polling card and send it to the municipality with which they had the most recent contact. A "polling card subscription" is also possible, whereby these are sent automatically for the duration of the entry in the electoral register.

Electronic voting
According to the Foreign Ministry, around 600,000 Austrians live abroad. Five years ago, only one in ten of them had applied for a polling card. In order to increase participation, the procedure should be simplified, according to the Austrian Association Abroad (AÖWB). Electronic voting, as in the Baltic countries, is conceivable, said President Werner Götz.

According to him, there should also be the possibility of dual citizenship and representation of Austrians abroad in parliament. They are currently entitled to vote in presidential elections, National Council and European elections. They can also take part in referendums and plebiscites.