East Styria (), also known as Electoral District 6B (), is one of the 39 multi-member regional electoral districts of the National Council, the lower house of the Austrian Parliament, the national legislature of Austria. The electoral district was established in 2012 by the merger of Styria East and Styria South East following the re-organisation of the regional electoral districts in Styria to reflect the new administrative district structure and came into being at the following legislative election in 2013. It consists of the districts of Hartberg-Fürstenfeld, South East Styria and Weiz in the state of Styria. The electoral district currently elects six of the 183 members of the National Council using the open party-list proportional representation electoral system. At the 2019 legislative election the constituency had 217,383 registered electors.

History East Styria was established in 2012 by the merger of Styria East and Styria South East following the re-organisation of the regional electoral districts in Styria to reflect the new administrative district structure. It consisted of the districts of Hartberg-Fürstenfeld, South East Styria and Weiz in the state of Styria. The district was initially allocated six seats in April 2013.

Electoral system East Styria currently elects six of the 183 members of the National Council using the open party-list proportional representation electoral system. The allocation of seats is carried out in three stages. In the first stage, seats are allocated to parties (lists) at the regional level using a state-wide Hare quota () (valid votes in the state divided by the number of seats in the state). In the second stage, seats are allocated to parties at the state/provincial level using the state-wide Hare quota (any seats won by the party at the regional stage are subtracted from the party's state seats). In the third and final stage, seats are allocated to parties at the federal/national level using the D'Hondt method (any seats won by the party at the regional and state stages are subtracted from the party's federal seats). Only parties that reach the 4% national threshold, or have won a seat at the regional stage, compete for seats at the state and federal stages.

Electors may cast one preferential vote for individual candidates at the regional, state and federal levels. Split-ticket voting (panachage), or voting for more than one candidate at each level, is not permitted and will result in the ballot paper being invalidated. At the regional level, candidates must receive preferential votes amounting to at least 14% of the valid votes cast for their party to over-ride the order of the party list (10% and 7% respectively for the state and federal levels).

Election results Summary Election CommunistsKPÖ+ / KPÖ Social DemocratsSPÖ GreensGRÜNE NEOSNEOS People'sÖVP FreedomFPÖ colspan=3 colspan=3 colspan=3 colspan=3 colspan=3 colspan=3 Votes % Seats Votes % Seats Votes % Seats Votes % Seats Votes % Seats Votes % Seats2019 1,106 0.67% 0 22,422 13.57% 0 15,157 9.18% 0 9,013 5.46% 0 79,887 48.36% 3 35,216 21.32% 12017 874 0.49% 0 31,150 17.63% 1 3,540 2.00% 0 7,059 4.00% 0 68,912 39.00% 2 58,476 33.10% 22013 1,512 0.89% 0 29,801 17.62% 1 12,798 7.57% 0 4,680 2.77% 0 49,312 29.16% 1 40,757 24.10% 1

Detailed 2019 Results of the 2019 legislative election held on 29 September 2019:

Party Votes per district Totalvotes % SeatsHart-berg-Fürst-enfeld SouthEastStyria Weiz Votingcard Austrian People's Party ÖVP 28,611 26,772 24,400 104 79,887 48.36% 3 Freedom Party of Austria FPÖ 12,583 11,631 10,940 62 35,216 21.32% 1 Social Democratic Party of Austria SPÖ 7,196 6,204 8,985 37 22,422 13.57% 0 The Greens – The Green Alternative GRÜNE 4,963 3,941 6,146 107 15,157 9.18% 0 NEOS – The New Austria and Liberal Forum NEOS 2,947 2,738 3,276 52 9,013 5.46% 0 JETZT JETZT 596 556 678 19 1,849 1.12% 0 KPÖ Plus KPÖ+ 285 324 493 4 1,106 0.67% 0 Der Wandel WANDL 180 140 212 6 538 0.33% 0Valid Votes 57,361 52,306 55,130 391 165,188 100.00% 4Rejected Votes 663 562 669 5 1,899 1.14% Total Polled 58,024 52,868 55,799 396 167,087 76.86% Registered Electors 74,303 70,451 72,629 217,383 Turnout 78.09% 75.04% 76.83% 76.86%

The following candidates were elected: Party mandates - Reinhold Lopatka (ÖVP), 2,424 votes; Walter Rauch (FPÖ), 1,870 votes; Christoph Stark (ÖVP), 7,270 votes; and Agnes Totter (ÖVP), 1,778 votes.

Substitutions: Reinhold Lopatka (ÖVP) resigned on 2 July 2024 and was replaced by Kerstin Fladerer (ÖVP) on 3 July 2024.

2017 Results of the 2017 legislative election held on 15 October 2017:

Party Votes per district Totalvotes % SeatsHart-berg-Fürst-enfeld SouthEastStyria Weiz Votingcard Austrian People's Party ÖVP 24,319 23,295 21,173 125 68,912 39.00% 2 Freedom Party of Austria FPÖ 20,766 19,136 18,476 98 58,476 33.10% 2 Social Democratic Party of Austria SPÖ 10,178 8,776 12,087 109 31,150 17.63% 1 NEOS – The New Austria and Liberal Forum NEOS 2,309 2,090 2,618 42 7,059 4.00% 0 Peter Pilz List PILZ 1,481 1,237 1,654 34 4,406 2.49% 0 The Greens – The Green Alternative GRÜNE 1,132 974 1,406 28 3,540 2.00% 0 My Vote Counts! GILT 453 428 619 9 1,509 0.85% 0 Communist Party of Austria KPÖ 247 257 363 7 874 0.49% 0 Free List Austria FLÖ 170 158 138 0 466 0.26% 0 The Whites WEIßE 93 109 81 2 285 0.16% 0Valid Votes 61,148 56,460 58,615 454 176,677 100.00% 5Rejected Votes 609 493 504 0 1,606 0.90% Total Polled 61,757 56,953 59,119 454 178,283 81.89% Registered Electors 74,366 70,779 72,553 217,698 Turnout 83.04% 80.47% 81.48% 81.89%

The following candidates were elected: Personal mandates - Christoph Stark (ÖVP), 9,914 votes. Party mandates - Klaus Uwe Feichtinger (SPÖ), 1,399 votes; Reinhold Lopatka (ÖVP), 6,217 votes; Walter Rauch (FPÖ), 2,631 votes; and Christian Schandor (FPÖ), 790 votes.

2013 Results of the 2013 legislative election held on 29 September 2013:

Party Votes per district Totalvotes % SeatsHart-berg-Fürst-enfeld SouthEastStyria Weiz Votingcard Austrian People's Party ÖVP 18,505 17,774 12,957 76 49,312 29.16% 1 Freedom Party of Austria FPÖ 13,501 14,088 13,116 52 40,757 24.10% 1 Social Democratic Party of Austria SPÖ 10,106 9,111 10,526 58 29,801 17.62% 1 Team Stronach FRANK 6,950 6,994 8,709 30 22,683 13.41% 0 The Greens – The Green Alternative GRÜNE 3,956 3,532 5,238 72 12,798 7.57% 0 Alliance for the Future of Austria BZÖ 2,052 1,930 1,941 14 5,937 3.51% 0 NEOS – The New Austria NEOS 1,604 1,555 1,481 40 4,680 2.77% 0 Communist Party of Austria KPÖ 387 444 671 10 1,512 0.89% 0 Pirate Party of Austria PIRAT 304 277 306 2 889 0.53% 0 Christian Party of Austria CPÖ 293 261 196 4 754 0.45% 0Valid Votes 57,658 55,966 55,141 358 169,123 100.00% 3Rejected Votes 1,030 1,047 954 8 3,039 1.77% Total Polled 58,688 57,013 56,095 366 172,162 78.28% Registered Electors 73,732 73,883 72,324 219,939 Turnout 79.60% 77.17% 77.56% 78.28%

The following candidates were elected: Party mandates - Reinhold Lopatka (ÖVP), 4,365 votes; Walter Rauch (FPÖ), 1,812 votes; and Sonja Steßl (SPÖ), 1,977 votes.

Substitutions: Sonja Steßl (SPÖ) resigned on 16 December 2013 and was replaced by Klaus Uwe Feichtinger (SPÖ) on 17 December 2013. Klaus Uwe Feichtinger (SPÖ) resigned on 18 May 2016 and was replaced by Sonja Steßl (SPÖ) on 19 May 2016.

References