Styrian State Parliament opposition walks out after voting error

A voting error in the Styrian State Parliament led to a walkout by all opposition parties on Tuesday. The incident occurred during a vote on a coalition motion regarding a law against political Islam.

During a series of consecutive motions, the governing parties, FPÖ and ÖVP, unintentionally voted against their own proposal. The error was attributed to the Third State Parliament President, Helga Ahrer, who reportedly read out an incorrect figure, triggering the wrong voting ratio.

Conflict escalated when the parliamentary leadership decided to repeat the vote hours later after a session break. The opposition parties—SPÖ, Greens, NEOS, and KPÖ—argued that this violated parliamentary rules, noting that the leadership had previously stated no repeat would occur. The opposition characterized the move as a “highly questionable handling of the rules of procedure” and a threat to democratic integrity. In response, the four opposition parties left the chamber and boycotted the remainder of the session. The FPÖ and ÖVP countered by accusing the opposition of “refusal to work.”