Tirol opposition moves to end municipal election list alliances
Tuesday 27th October 2026 on 15:01 in
Austria
Opposition parties in the Tirol state parliament are asking Austria’s Constitutional Court to scrap list alliances in municipal elections, calling the system unconstitutional and misleading to voters. ORF reported that the ÖVP, which opponents say benefits most from the arrangements, criticised the move.
The FPÖ, Liste Fritz, the Greens and NEOS announced their joint challenge at a news conference on Tuesday. They say Tirol is the only Austrian state that currently allows parties running for municipal councils to form these alliances.
Under the system, lists appear separately on the ballot but are counted together. Surplus votes for one list can then help a partner list win seats. The opposition said alliances were used in 43 municipalities at the most recent municipal elections and led to seat changes in seven percent of municipalities.
FPÖ leader Markus Abwerzger said the arrangement distorts voters’ intentions and gives an advantage to lists that form broad alliances. He argued that voters should not have their votes benefit a party they did not choose. Abwerzger’s law firm drafted the application to the court.
Liste Fritz parliamentary leader Markus Sint said the alliances served the ÖVP’s political interests. Green parliamentary leader Gebi Mair said a vote for one party should count for that party alone, while NEOS parliamentary leader Birgit Obermüller said the system strengthened the concentration of power.
The application is due to be filed on Wednesday, with all 15 lawmakers from the four opposition groups signing it. At least 12 of the 36 members of the state parliament are required to submit such a challenge. Independent lawmaker Georg Dornauer, a former SPÖ leader expelled from the party in April 2026, is not involved. The opposition lawmakers said they believed the court was likely to overturn the rules.
ÖVP municipal affairs spokesman and state parliament vice-president Dominik Mainusch said the opposition was attacking a democratic tool. He argued that alliances make cooperation clear to voters before an election. The ÖVP also said the Constitutional Court had rejected a challenge to Tirol’s municipal election rules in 1994.
List alliances were abolished for elections at state level in 2018.