Congress Changes

Day 1,765, 19:36 • Published in Austria Austria • by Rangeley


As the summer winds down, a big change is coming to the political module. Regional elections for congress are being replaced with proportional national list elections. This means people will be voting directly for parties, instead of particular candidates, on congressional election days.

Each party president will arrange their candidates onto their list, and select the final order. This is important, because names higher up have the best chance of winning a seat. In our case, we will be electing 40 congress members. If a party were to obtain 50% of the total votes cast, they would win 20 seats - thus the top 20 on the list win a seat. If a party were to obtain 10% of the total votes, they would win 4 seats - thus the first 4 on the list win a seat.

While others have discussed the merits of this change, one thing that certainly comes from it is an increased role and importance for parties - and an increased responsibility for Party Presidents, who now must decide how to put together their party’s list.

ÖIP's Listing

One way to make a list might be to have it be totally random - another would be to select friends. I don't think either of these would be fair, or meaningful, however - both would be a misuse of the responsibility. In putting together the ÖIP list, the aim will be first and foremost to select people who are trustworthy, and loyal to Austria.

Among those who meet this, the highest listings will go to the most active and involved citizens, who make the biggest contributions today - and therefore, stand as most likely to contribute in congress as well. This sort of constructive behavior is very important to be recognized, as it gives meaning to the higher listings, at the same time it lays a clear framework for rising up.

Running for Congress

If you are interested in running for congress under the ÖIP but have questions, please feel free to send me a message. Lists will be finalized on September 24th. If you are unsure about which party you would like to be a part of or run with, but might be interested in the ÖIP, you can likewise send me a message, or check out these articles explaining some of our views (here or here). And keep an eye out for upcoming articles about our party!