Austrian presidential election, 1951
The Austrian presidential elections of 1951 marked the first time that the President of Austria was elected by popular vote. A constitutional amendment in 1929 would have seen the President being elected directly, however a planned popular election in 1931 was cancelled and moved to the parliament, since it was deemed too expensive.[1] After the suspension of the constitution in 1934[2] and Austria ceasing to exist in 1938, the first presidential elections by popular vote were to be held in 1945. Because the Allied council did not approve on the constitutional law passed by the National Council, the election was again held by the Federal Council of Austria.[3] With no candidate achieving a majority of the votes, a second round was held on 27 May 1951. It saw socialist Theodor Körner, mayor of Vienna, defeating the governor of Upper Austria, Heinrich Gleißner of the Austrian People's Party.[4]
Results
Summary of the 6 and 27 May 1951 Austrian presidential election results
| Candidates and affiliated parties |
1st round |
2nd round |
| Votes |
% |
Votes |
% |
|
Theodor Körner |
Socialist Party of Austria |
1,682,881 |
39.15% |
2,178,631 |
52.06% |
| |
Heinrich Gleißner |
Austrian People's Party |
1,725,451 |
40.14% |
2,006,322 |
47.94% |
| |
Burghard Breitner |
Federation of Independents |
662,501 |
15.41% |
|
| |
Gottlieb Fiala |
Communist Party of Austria |
219,969 |
5.12% |
| |
Johannes Ude |
Independent |
5,413 |
0.13% |
| |
Ludovica Hainisch |
Independent |
2,132 |
0.05% |
| Total |
4,298,347 |
100% |
4,184,953 |
100% |
|
| Valid votes | 4,298,347 | 98.35% | 4,184,953 | 95.70% |
| Spoilt and null votes | 72,227 | 1.65% | 188,241 | 4.30% |
| Votes cast / turnout | 4,370,574 | 96.83% | 4,373,194 | 96.89% |
| Electorate | 4,513,597 | | 4,513,597 | |
| Source: Austrian Ministry of the Interior, detailed Results |
References
