Even if we didn't make it onto the ballot in AT: We say THANK YOU!

We will continue to campaign for democracy, human rights, climate protection and a united Europe not only in Austria, but throughout Europe. And even if you won't find us on the ballot paper in Austria this time, we are more than confident that we will multiply our number of MEPs in the EU Parliament through the votes in other countries (if you are an EU citizen from abroad and registered to vote in Germany, for example, you can of course vote for Volt there).

How can you support us now?

We have many plans for how we will make it next time. If you want to support us again, just get registered in our supporter database - and we will only write to you when we need a declaration of support or, if you are an EU citizen, when there is an opportunity to be entered in the electoral register (if you additionally want to be kept up to date, you can of course subscribe to our newsletter).

We will also work to ensure that the European elections are not only secret and free, but also equal, because the latter cannot really be said to be the case when it comes to the entry requirements for new parties or registration deadlines for their EU citizens. In Germany, for example, a party needs 4,000 signatures to register - which would be around 450 signatures in Austria, as Germany has a much larger population. And with the crucial difference that in Austria you are not allowed to sign everywhere like elsewhere, but only at your own office at your main place of residence, which in turn excludes many people per se: In the countryside, practically the majority of the working population due to the opening hours of the offices, all Austrians who are currently abroad, on vacation or even just sick. And this despite the fact that Austria has a very well-functioning alternative called the cell phone signature, which is also valid for referendums.

Our Taylor Swift lottery...

...was well-intentioned, but instead of the missing declarations of support, we received a call from the Ministry of the Interior, whereupon we stopped advertising the competition. We apologize that we were not legally up to date, that was our mistake. A good six months ago, the paragraph on "vote buying" was extended to include declarations of support, which doesn't immediately spring to mind, as 2600 declarations of support don't get you a single vote, as the vote itself is completely independent of the declarations of support. Nevertheless, we should have known. Even if it was still quite legal at the last election and was also seen as a legitimate means for other small parties to compete with the difficult collection conditions. But apparently the emergence of new parties was enough of a threat that the law had to be changed straight away.

And the Winner is:

...the winner will be contacted by post at the address given.