Municipalities demand end to costly agriculture chamber election duties

Municipalities in Carinthia want the state’s Chamber of Agriculture to take responsibility for its own elections, ORF reported. The chamber’s election is scheduled for October 25, but municipalities currently organise the vote despite tight budgets.

Carinthia’s farmers are expected to elect new representatives. The Gemeindebund, an association representing municipalities, says the workload and costs are too high. Its president, SPÖ politician Günther Vallant, said the chamber should conduct the election itself in future.

Voter lists create most work

Municipal employees are particularly burdened by compiling voter lists. They must determine who is entitled to vote at each farm and how many eligible voters there are. The process often leads to objections and lengthy individual checks. Municipalities receive the underlying data from the social insurance system.

The municipalities receive increased reimbursement for their work, but Vallant said the payment covered only part of the costs. A substantial, currently unquantifiable share remained with the municipalities, he said.

The Chamber of Agriculture thanked the municipalities and said the quality of the data supplied for the voter lists had improved significantly this time. Chamber director Bernhard Rebernig said any new arrangement would require the chamber to receive the legal authority to access the official population register and determine voting eligibility itself.

There is no obligation in agriculture to register in a population register, unlike in the commercial sector’s business register, Rebernig said. The chamber therefore depends on support from the municipalities.

According to Vallant, new talks with the state government have been agreed for after the state election in two years.