The 2024 European Parliament election in Austria will be held on 9th June. Austria then is to pick its 20 members of the next European Parliament. For them to enter Parliament, the political parties running for election need to secure at least 4% of the votes cast.

Besides its 7 million nationals, Austria is today home to almost 1 million citizens from the remaining 26 member states of the European Union(1). Providing the general requirements are fulfilled (minimum age of 16 years, primary residence in Austria), they are all equally eligible voters in Austria.

However, EU citizens are not automatically included in the electoral roll, as is the case for municipal elections. Quite the contrary, they have to independently apply for inscription on Austria's European Electoral Register. With regards to the June parliamentary election, the registration deadline is set at 26th March 2024.

As this bureaucratic hurdle is largely unknown, the share of actually registered EU citizens is estimated to hover at just 5%. It follows that, at the last European Parliament election in 2019, roughly 550,000 people were unable to express their views at the ballot boxes in Austria, though their absence was never taken account of by the official abstention rate.(2) Paradoxically, it is these voters who are particularly affected by the policies of the European Union and, yet, who have the least to say in who should represent them in Parliament. 

Here you will find out how to smoothly navigate through the registration process for the European election in Austria.

Once you have gathered all the necessary documents, you only need to either send them to the responsible office at your municipality or present them in the original.

You can submit your application either in writing (by e-mail or post) or in person. It is not possible to apply by telephone!

The addresses of the relevant offices for the nine most populous municipalities of Austria are listed here.

Did you submit the complete application? 

Congratulations! 

You are now eligible to vote in the European Parliament elections in Austria. The application is required only once and is valid as long as you do not move your main residence abroad.

Now, you can simply wait for the official notification of the European elections. On 9th June 2024, you will join millions of EU citizens across all of Europe in voting for the next European Parliament.

Your vote counts!

Further information on the elections can be found on the homepage of the Austrian Federal Government and the Federal Ministry of the Interior (BMI).

General information on the European elections can be found on the website of the European Parliament: https://elections.europa.eu/.