Parliament approves new laws

Pat Maadi

Voting age in national elections is lowered to 16.
Legislative period extended to 5 years.

Vienna. The Austrian parliament passed a major reform of Austria’s election laws on Tuesday. Amongst other measures the new law will lower the voting age and give 16 year olds the right to vote in national elections. Provincial governments will also be required to lower the voting age to 16 within six months. Some provinces have already introduced the measure. Education in politics will begin at a younger age in Austrian schools. In addition, the reform will extend the legislative period from 4 to 5 years beginning with the next government. Postal votes from within Austria will also be allowed.

Parliament also approved three ombudsmen and women. They are Peter Kostelka of the Social Democrats (SPÖ), the party with the largest number of representatives in parliament, Maria Fekter of the People’s Party (ÖVP) which is the second largest party, and Terezija Stoisits of the Greens will serve from July 1st for the next six years.

Printausgabe vom 05.06.2007