MACHO, GNADE & Co.

Election riddle: Who is behind these abbreviations?

(Bild: Krone KREATIV/Martin Jöchl, stock.adobe.com)

Traditional party names are increasingly out of fashion. Citizens' lists in particular are showing a lot of imagination on ballot papers - and sometimes puzzling voters. The "Krone" clarifies.

The times when only the ÖVP, SPÖ, FPÖ and Greens were on the ballot in Lower Austria's municipalities are long gone. The more colorful the political spectrum, the more the ballot paper becomes a hodgepodge of original to curious abbreviations. And it is often hard to tell at first glance who is behind them.

"Chancellor duel" in the municipalities?
On Sunday, for example, you can also vote for KURZ and KERN. The former stands for the Sustainable Hürm list, the latter for the Kern list in Petzenkirchen. It remains to be seen whether LUST really makes you want to vote for the Independent Social Steinakirchen list. And with GNADE, the Gnadendorf democrats are pleading for votes. Of course, GLOCK has nothing to do with pistols in Göttlesbrunn-Arbesthal - it is simply the list of Mayor Franz Glock.

BLA and ZIB and NBA
If you vote for BLA on Sunday, you are not necessarily voting for Geschwätz, but for Bürgerliste Achau. And in Zwölfaxing at least, ZIB does not refer to the TV news, but to the "initiative citizens" of the village. Under the name ALL, it is not the universe that aspires to the town hall, but a citizens' list in Alland.

NBA has nothing to do with the National Basketball Association, but with this abbreviation the Neutral Citizens' List Absdorf hopes not to get a basket from the voters. And if you vote for EBER, you are not voting for the male bristle cattle, but for the Eber list in - guess what - Ebergassing.