Advertising, Going to the polls

This is how much the National Council election costs us

At least the campaign workers are mostly working for free.(Bild: ÖVP/Vinzenz Wagner)

The municipalities and the federal government finance the organization of the ballot. There are around 10,400 electoral districts across the country for 6.34 million eligible voters. The costs depend on the latter, among other things.

Democracy has its price. The handling of the National Council elections costs the federal government and municipalities a total of around 23 million euros. The municipalities have to finance around ten million euros of this out of their own pockets. They receive around 13 million euros from the federal government via the statutory reimbursement of costs. This sum is based on the number of eligible voters (6.34 million): There is a cost reimbursement of two euros for each one.

Between 33 and 100 euros for scrutineers
Depending on the opening hours of the polling stations, the municipalities pay the polling officers compensation. This is 33 euros if the polling station is open for up to three hours, 66 euros if it is open for up to six hours and 100 euros if it is open for more than six hours. The out-of-hours Saturday emptying of letterboxes by the post office incurs costs of around 830,000 euros.

In addition to the costs for the organization, there are also a lot of election campaign expenses. Although these come from the party coffers, most of them are also taxpayers' money. In the two and a half months up to election day, the parties are each allowed to spend a maximum of 8.66 million euros.

Only the Greens and Neos name their spending
The ÖVP, FPÖ and SPÖ did not want to announce in advance how much they will spend. Only Neos and the Greens put a figure on their planned expenditure. The Neos have budgeted 3.1 million euros and the Greens five million. In the past, there have been repeated overruns.