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Location: Austria
Austria
2016
EET
Presidential
The authorities should consider ways to ensure sufficient numbers of election board members are recruited. This may involve enhancing incentives and/or broadening membership beyond party nominated persons. Efforts should be made to promote gender-balanced representation in election boards, with gender disaggregated data on the composition of election boards made publicly available.
Recommendation # in final report:
1
Type of recommendation:
Priority
Thematic area:
Election Administration
Type of change required:
Practice
Status of implementation:
Not evaluated
Final report heading:
Postal Voting and Election Day Procedures
Austria
2016
EET
Presidential
As previously recommended, consideration could be given to restricting elected officials from directly serving on election boards, in order to safeguard the impartiality of the election administration.
Recommendation # in final report:
2
Type of recommendation:
Priority
Thematic area:
Election Administration
Type of change required:
Legal
Status of implementation:
Not evaluated
Final report heading:
Postal Voting and Election Day Procedures
Austria
2016
EET
Presidential
With the aim of reducing the number of invalid voting cards, the authorities should consider re-designing the voting card in a manner that draws attention to the need to sign the affidavit and instituting enhanced voter information on the process.
Recommendation # in final report:
3
Type of recommendation:
Priority
Thematic area:
Election Day
Type of change required:
Sub-legal
Status of implementation:
Not evaluated
Final report heading:
Postal Voting and Election Day Procedures
Austria
2016
EET
Presidential
To ensure the equality of voting conditions within Austria, the arrangements for depositing, collecting, and delivering voting cards could be standardised. It may be considered to allow all voters to deposit completed voting cards at their municipal authority.
Recommendation # in final report:
4
Type of recommendation:
Priority
Thematic area:
Election Day
Type of change required:
Legal
Status of implementation:
Not evaluated
Final report heading:
Postal Voting and Election Day Procedures
Austria
2016
EET
Presidential
The authorities could take measures to enhance the organization of voting, for example, by enforcing the implied limit on the number of registered voters per polling station, more effectively correlating voting hours to the number of registered voters, and increasing the number of polling station board members.
Recommendation # in final report:
5
Type of recommendation:
Other
Thematic area:
Election Day
Type of change required:
Legal
Status of implementation:
Not evaluated
Final report heading:
Postal Voting and Election Day Procedures
Austria
2016
EET
Presidential
Consideration could be given to establishing procedures aimed at ensuring the uniform handling and storage of voting cards received by polling station boards.
Recommendation # in final report:
6
Type of recommendation:
Other
Thematic area:
Election Day
Type of change required:
Legal
Status of implementation:
Not evaluated
Final report heading:
Postal Voting and Election Day Procedures
Austria
2017
Early election
EAM
Parliamentary
elections
The authorities should take steps to ensure citizens’ right of access to information on all aspects of elections are in line with Austria’s international obligations, by ensuring guarantees in law are clear and comprehensive and proactively putting relevant information into the public domain and providing easy, effective, quick, and practical access to such information.
Recommendation # in final report:
1
Type of recommendation:
Priority
Thematic area:
Legal Framework
Secondary thematic area:
Campaign
Type of change required:
Practice
Status of implementation:
Not evaluated
Final report heading:
Legal Framework
Austria
2017
Early election
EAM
Parliamentary
elections
To ensure effective oversight of political finance and campaign expenditures, the Court of Audit should be empowered to audit political parties’ accounts on the same basis as other institutions receiving public funds, and should be provided the necessary resources to carry out these duties.
Recommendation # in final report:
2
Type of recommendation:
Priority
Thematic area:
Campaign Finance
Type of change required:
Legal
Status of implementation:
Not evaluated
Final report heading:
Campaign Finance
Austria
2017
Early election
EAM
Parliamentary
elections
In line with previous OSCE/ODIHR recommendations, and to ensure that effective remedies are available to all citizens, steps should be considered to enable more types of electoral disputes to be resolved by a judicial body before election day, including disputes regarding candidates’ right to stand for elections.
Recommendation # in final report:
3
Type of recommendation:
Priority
Thematic area:
Election Dispute Resolution (EDR)
Type of change required:
Legal
Status of implementation:
Not evaluated
Final report heading:
Complaints and Appeals
Austria
2017
Early election
EAM
Parliamentary
elections
To safeguard the impartiality of the election administration and prevent conflicts of interest, candidates and sitting MPs could be restricted from serving on election boards and steps could be explored to ensure that polling station boards are composed of members from more than one political party.
Recommendation # in final report:
4
Type of recommendation:
Priority
Thematic area:
Election Administration
Type of change required:
Legal
Status of implementation:
Not evaluated
Final report heading:
Election Administration
Austria
2017
Early election
EAM
Parliamentary
elections
The legal framework should be reviewed to address existing gaps and ambiguities as well as past and present OSCE/ODIHR recommendations. Reform should be undertaken well in advance of the next elections and involve open consultation with all stakeholders.
Recommendation # in final report:
5
Type of recommendation:
Other
Thematic area:
Legal Framework
Type of change required:
Legal
Status of implementation:
Not evaluated
Final report heading:
Legal Framework
Austria
2017
Early election
EAM
Parliamentary
elections
Measures should be considered to promote women’s participation on election boards, including leadership positions. For example, political parties could be requested to nominate a minimum percentage of each gender to election boards. In addition, gender disaggregated data should be compiled and published on election board membership at each level.
Recommendation # in final report:
6
Type of recommendation:
Other
Thematic area:
Election Administration
Secondary thematic area:
Participation of Women
Type of change required:
Legal
Status of implementation:
Not evaluated
Final report heading:
Election Administration
Austria
2017
Early election
EAM
Parliamentary
elections
To enhance transparency, the authorities should publicize the minutes and decisions of election boards at all levels. Consideration could also be given to opening election boards meetings to the public.
Recommendation # in final report:
7
Type of recommendation:
Other
Thematic area:
Election Administration
Type of change required:
Legal
Status of implementation:
Not evaluated
Final report heading:
Election Administration
Austria
2017
Early election
EAM
Parliamentary
elections
Changing the procedure for collecting signatures, including allowing voters to give their signature outside of their home municipality and for more than one list of candidates, could be considered.
Recommendation # in final report:
8
Type of recommendation:
Other
Thematic area:
Candidate Registration
Type of change required:
Legal
Status of implementation:
Not evaluated
Final report heading:
Candidate Registration
Austria
2017
Early election
EAM
Parliamentary
elections
Consideration should be given to regulating third party financing and loans, including disclosure requirements consistent with guarantees of freedom of expression and association.
Recommendation # in final report:
9
Type of recommendation:
Other
Thematic area:
Campaign Finance
Type of change required:
Legal
Status of implementation:
Not evaluated
Final report heading:
Campaign Finance
Austria
2017
Early election
EAM
Parliamentary
elections
Requiring a pre-election campaign finance report providing preliminary details of income and expenditures of campaigning parties would enhance transparency and enable voters to make more fully informed choices. The subsequent annual party reports could then include comprehensive and itemized financial statements. Consideration could be given to expanding annual reporting requirements to parliamentary clubs and other organizations affiliated with political parties.
Recommendation # in final report:
10
Type of recommendation:
Other
Thematic area:
Campaign Finance
Type of change required:
Legal
Status of implementation:
Not evaluated
Final report heading:
Campaign Finance
Austria
2017
Early election
EAM
Parliamentary
elections
Consideration should be given to amending the law to provide for proportionate, effective and dissuasive sanctions for violations of campaign finance provisions, based on a clear and adequate list of irregularities that apply to all electoral contestants and third parties.
Recommendation # in final report:
11
Type of recommendation:
Other
Thematic area:
Campaign Finance
Type of change required:
Legal
Status of implementation:
Not evaluated
Final report heading:
Campaign Finance
Austria
2017
Early election
EAM
Parliamentary
elections
Recognizing that public broadcasters have a responsibility to ensure a broad and balanced coverage of elections, ORF’s current policy could be reviewed with the aim of providing equitable access for all campaigning parties to debates and other election-related programming.
Recommendation # in final report:
12
Type of recommendation:
Other
Thematic area:
Media
Type of change required:
Legal
Status of implementation:
Not evaluated
Final report heading:
Media
Austria
2017
Early election
EAM
Parliamentary
elections
Criminal provisions for defamation, libel, insult, and slander should be repealed in favour of civil remedies designed to restore the reputation harmed.
Recommendation # in final report:
13
Type of recommendation:
Other
Thematic area:
Media
Type of change required:
Legal
Status of implementation:
Not evaluated
Final report heading:
Media
Austria
2017
Early election
EAM
Parliamentary
elections
The election law should be amended to allow for citizen observation, in line with paragraph 8 of the 1990 OSCE Copenhagen Document.
Recommendation # in final report:
14
Type of recommendation:
Other
Thematic area:
Citizen and International Observation
Type of change required:
Legal
Status of implementation:
Not evaluated
Final report heading:
Citizen and International Observation
Austria
2017
Early election
EAM
Parliamentary
elections
Additional safeguards on election day could be considered, including a requirement to use tamper evident seals on ballot boxes and for polling stations to secure and record the voting cards (postal ballots) they receive.
Recommendation # in final report:
15
Type of recommendation:
Other
Thematic area:
Election Day
Type of change required:
Sub-legal
Status of implementation:
Not evaluated
Final report heading:
Election Day and Post-Election Developments
Austria
2017
Early election
EAM
Parliamentary
elections
Measures could be considered to enhance access for voters with different disabilities to all stages of electoral process, including campaign materials.
Recommendation # in final report:
16
Type of recommendation:
Other
Thematic area:
Campaign
Secondary thematic area:
Participation of Persons with Disabilities
Type of change required:
Practice
Status of implementation:
Not evaluated
Final report heading:
Election Day and Post-Election Developments
Austria
2017
Early election
EAM
Parliamentary
elections
Consideration could be given to extend sufficiently the electoral calendar to ensure that postal votes from abroad arrive in time.
Recommendation # in final report:
17
Type of recommendation:
Other
Thematic area:
Election Day
Type of change required:
Legal
Status of implementation:
Not evaluated
Final report heading:
Election Day and Post-Election Developments