Lower Austrian state election, 2008

State elections were held in the Austrian state of Lower Austria on 9 March 2008. [ [http://sora.at/de/start.asp?b=15 SORA Wahlkalender ] ] They were contested by the Austrian People's Party, the Social Democratic Party of Austria, The Greens – The Green Alternative and the Freedom Party of Austria, all of whom are in the current "Landtag", and a number of smaller parties.

The ÖVP had earlier indicated that its preferred date would have been the 20 April 2008, [ [http://diepresse.com/home/politik/innenpolitik/331451/index.do?_vl_backlink=/home/politik/innenpolitik/index.do Landtag: NÖ-Wahl könnte am 20. April stattfinden « DiePresse.com ] ] though 13 April 2008 had also been considered a possible date. [ [http://diepresse.com/home/politik/innenpolitik/350438/index.do NÖ: Schwarze Bastion: Zittern um Absolute « DiePresse.com ] ] The newly founded party The Christians contested its first election. [ [http://diepresse.com/home/politik/innenpolitik/333121/index.do?_vl_backlink=/home/politik/innenpolitik/index.do Österreich hat eine neue Partei « DiePresse.com ] ]

A poll, conducted in October 2007 by Integral for the newspaper Kurier, showed the following voting intentions: [ [http://www.kurier.at/nachrichten/niederoesterreich/117436.php Pröll muss um Absolute zittern | kurier.at ] ]

* ÖVP: 50%
* SPÖ: 31%
* Greens: 9%
* FPÖ: 9%
* BZÖ: 1%

In total, nine parties contested the election. SPÖ, ÖVP, FPÖ, the Greens and the Communist Party of Austria contested the election in all districts. The Alliance for the Future of Austria (BZÖ) contested the election in seventeen of the twenty-one districts, having failed to gather the necessary fifty signatures in Lilienfeld, Neunkirchen, Waidhofen a.d. Thaya and Wiener Neustadt. The Christians contested the election in all districts except Bruck a.d. Leitha. The List for Our Lower Austria ("Liste für unser Niederösterreich", LNÖ) contested the election in Baden, Gänserndorf, Lilienfeld, Neunkirchen, St. Pölten and Wiener Neustadt, and the Animal Rights Party ("Tierrechtspartei") contested the election only in Mödling. [ [http://diepresse.com/home/politik/innenpolitik/361624/index.do Neun Parteien treten bei NÖ-Wahl am 9. März an « DiePresse.com ] ]

The ÖVP managed to increase its majority, while the SPÖ lost badly, going down –8%; the Greens stagnated, while the FPÖ gained +6% and entered the state government. The KPÖ was the largest minor party, before the Christians and the BZÖ.

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