- Title: Austria: Polls open snap parliamentary election
- Date: 29th September 2019
- Summary: VIENNA, AUSTRIA (SEPTEMBER 29, 2019) (REUTERS) MAN ENTERING POLLING STATION SIGN READING (German) 'POLLING STATION' TWO WOMEN ENTERING POLLING STATION WOMAN INSIDE POLLING STATION
- Embargoed: 13th October 2019 07:30
- Keywords: Austria elections polls open ballot box snap election Sebastian Kurz
- Location: VIENNA, AUSTRIA
- City: VIENNA, AUSTRIA
- Country: Austria
- Topics: Government/Politics,Elections/Voting
- Reuters ID: LVA001AYPM53B
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Austrians vote on Sunday (September 29) in a snap parliamentary election that conservative leader Sebastian Kurz looks set to win, but he will still need a coalition partner to secure a majority and it remains unclear whom he will pick.
Polling stations opened at 7 a.m. (0500 GMT) and the first projections are due shortly after voting ends at 5 p.m.
The election follows the collapse in May of Kurz's coalition with the far-right Freedom Party (FPO) after a video sting scandal that forced FPO Vice Chancellor Heinz-Christian Strache to step down.
Kurz, 33, has emerged largely unscathed from the scandal, even gaining voters from the FPO as its support has slipped to roughly a fifth of the electorate from just over a quarter in the last vote in 2017. On the left, there has been some shift in support from the Social Democrats to the resurgent Greens.
While they might be able to give Kurz and his party a narrow majority in parliament, he is unlikely to want to be at the mercy of a small number of its left-wing lawmakers, meaning that if he chooses to ally with the Greens he will probably seek a three-way tie-up including the pro-business Neos.
(Production: Ayhan Uyanik, Suzana Sabljic) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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