2021 Upper Austrian state election

The 2021 Upper Austrian state election was held on 26 September 2021 to elect the members of the Landtag of Upper Austria.
The Austrian People's Party remained the largest party with small gains. Of the six parties which won seats in the Landtag, the Freedom Party of Austria was the only one to suffer losses, falling from 31% of votes to 20%. The Social Democratic Party of Austria recorded minimal change compared to 2015 and remained in third place with 19%, tying the FPÖ with 11 seats. The Greens improved their performance to over 12%. NEOS – The New Austria narrowly passed the electoral threshold and entered the Landtag for the first time with 4%. Unexpectedly, the anti-vaccination MFG party won 6% and three seats.

Background

The Upper Austrian constitution mandates that cabinet positions in the state government be allocated between parties proportionally in accordance with the share of votes won by each; this is known as Proporz. As such, the government is a perpetual coalition of all parties that qualify for at least one state councillor. Despite this, parties still establish formal coalitions to organise cabinet positions and ensure a Landtag majority for legislative purposes.
In the 2015 state election, the ÖVP and SPÖ suffered major losses to the FPÖ, which doubled its vote share to 30% and became the second largest party. The ÖVP, lacking a majority in the state council, subsequently signed a working agreement with the FPÖ.
Governor Josef Pühringer resigned in 2017 after 22 years in office. He was succeeded on 6 April by Deputy Governor and fellow ÖVP member Thomas Stelzer, who was elected by the Landtag with 51 of 55 votes.

Electoral system

The 56 seats of the Landtag of Upper Austria are elected via open list proportional representation in a two-step process. The seats are distributed between five multi-member constituencies. For parties to receive any representation in the Landtag, they must either win at least one seat in a constituency directly, or clear a 4 percent state-wide electoral threshold. Seats are distributed in constituencies according to the Hare quota, with any remaining seats allocated using the D'Hondt method at the state level, to ensure overall proportionality between a party's vote share and its share of seats.

Contesting parties

The table below lists parties represented in the previous Landtag.
In addition to the parties already represented in the Landtag, seven parties collected enough signatures to be placed on the ballot.

NEOS – The New Upper Austria
MFG – Austria: People – Freedom – Fundamental Rights
Communist Party of Austria and Independent Left
Best Upper Austria – Honest, Transparent and Open Electoral Platform
UBB Independent Citizens' Movement – on the ballot only in Linz and Surrounds, Hausruckviertel, and Mühlviertel
Christian Party of Austria – on the ballot only in Hausruckviertel, Traunviertel, and Mühlviertel
Referendum – on the ballot only in Linz and Surrounds and Hausruckviertel

Opinion polling

Polling firm	Fieldwork date	Sample size	ÖVP	FPÖ	SPÖ	Grüne	NEOS	MFG	Lead
Polling firm	Fieldwork date	Sample size							Lead
2021 state election	26 Sep 2021	–	37.6	19.8	18.6	12.3	4.2	6.2	17.8
	22 Sep 2021	500	38	22	18	12	5	4.5	16
	13–16 Sep 2021	400	41	23	17	11	5	3	18
	September 2021	400	40	23.5	17	13	3	3	16.5
	9–14 Sep 2021	800	38	22	18	12	5	4	16
	6–10 Sep 2021	838	39	19	20	13	5	4	19
	6–9 Sep 2021	800	36	22	20	13	4	–	14
	6–8 Sep 2021	500	38	23	18	12	5	3	15
	31 Aug-2 Sep 2021	400	40	25	17	11	5	rowspan="28"	15
	23–31 Aug 2021	800	40	24	15	16	3	16	-
	23–26 Aug 2021	500	39	24	18	12	5	15	-
	25 Aug 2021	?	40	22	18	12	6	18	-
	10–17 Aug 2021	800	38	22	18	12	6	16	-
	21 Jun–5 Jul 2021	800	41	24	17	14	3	17	-
	21–23 Jun 2021	400	42	22.5	17	11	5	19.5	-
	25 May–11 Jun 2021	827	41	17	21	11	7	20	-
	18–20 May 2021	300	38	25	20	12	4	13	-
	3–6 May 2021	800	39	21	21	12	6	18	-
	April 2021	400	39.5	21.5	18	13	4	18	-
	4–12 Mar 2021	800	43	22	17	14	3	21	-
	27 Oct–6 Nov 2020	500	41.5	22.5	18.5	13.5	3.5	19.0	-
	18 Jul 2020	?	42	24	15	15	3	18	-
	25 Jul 2019	805	41	25	13	16	–	16	-
	18 Jun–2 Jul 2019	700	42	24	15	14	–	18	-
	29 April 2019	1,000	37.5	23.5	21.0	8.5	–	14.0	-
	21 Dec 2018	?	40	28	17	10	4	12	-
	23 Aug–3 Sep 2018	687	41	29	17	8	4	12	-
	17 Apr 2018	?	42	31	17	6	3	11	-
	16 Feb 2018	?	41.5	26.5	20.5	8.5	2.5	15.0	-
	23 Oct–3 Nov 2017	638	42	34	15	5	–	8	-
	5–17 Jul 2017	551	42	34	14	8	–	8	-
	13 Jul 2017	500	40.5	28.5	17.5	9.5	2.5	12.0	-
	24 Feb 2017	?	40	35	15	9	1	5	-
	8 May 2016	?	33	34	18	11	4	1	-
	8 May 2016	?	35	34	15	12	2	1	-
	27 Dec 2015	1,000	34	32	17	13	4	2	-
2015 state election	27 Sep 2015	–	36.4	30.4	18.4	10.3	3.5	–	6.0

Government formation

Compared to the previous legislative period, the ÖVP gained one state councillor while the FPÖ lost one, for a total of 5 ÖVP, 2 FPÖ, 1 SPÖ, and 1 Greens. Three of the nine councillors will be women, up from zero in 2015. Compared to the previous election, 27 of the 56 members of the Landtag are new.
The ÖVP and FPÖ entered coalition talks after the election. On 20 October, they announced that they had successfully reached an agreement to renew their coalition. The contract was approved by the ÖVP and FPÖ party committees later the same day. The new governing contract emphasised further investment in renewable energy such as hydroelectric, wind, and photovoltaic systems on roofs, as well as more investment into public transportation, cancer research, and general research and development, and building Upper Austria as an economic hub. It also emphasised more traditional right-wing issues such as strengthening integration efforts for newly arrived migrants and offering fewer state benefits for those who refuse to participate.
The newly-elected state parliament convened on 23 October to invest the new government. Governor Stelzer was re-elected with 41 of 55 votes. The ÖVP–FPÖ coalition comprises 33 deputies, of which one member of the ÖVP was absent due to COVID quarantine, indicating that nine members of the opposition voted in favour. As the SPÖ and MFG indicated that they would vote against Stelzer's investiture, these votes likely came from the Greens and NEOS. The new cabinet was also confirmed by the Landtag.