Vienna’s Mayor Michael Ludwig (SPÖ) has reaffirmed his position that voting rights in Austria should remain exclusive to citizens, even though over a third of Vienna’s residents cannot vote due to lacking Austrian citizenship.
Speaking at a press conference about Vienna’s solar energy initiatives, Ludwig stated that the SPÖ decided two years ago that voting rights, especially for government bodies, should stay linked to citizenship. However, he acknowledged that financial barriers make it difficult for some to gain citizenship. Ludwig highlighted that workers in caregiving and cleaning sectors often earn too little to meet the income requirements for citizenship. “Many of these workers struggle to have €1,100 left each month after paying for basic needs like rent and energy bills,” he said. He stressed that this is an issue of social justice, adding, “We need caregivers just as much as workers in any other profession.”
Human rights groups have criticized Austria’s strict income and bureaucratic requirements for citizenship. With a naturalization rate of less than 0.7%, Austria ranks among the lowest in Europe, according to Alexander Pollak from SOS Mitmensch. In response, the organization plans to hold a symbolic “Pass Egal Wahl” (Passport-Irrelevant Election) in Vienna. The event will allow non-citizens to cast symbolic votes for political parties, drawing attention to the exclusion of many residents from the democratic process.
The initiative aims to highlight the inequalities within Austria’s citizenship rules, emphasizing that thousands of long-term residents have no political voice in decisions that shape their lives.
