Austria's Social Democrats won Sunday's elections ahead of the conservative People's Party, but the far-right Freedom Party made big gains, Interior Minister Maria Fekter said Sunday evening.
The Social Democrats (SPOe) took 29.7 percent while the conservatives (OeVP) secured 25.6 percent, according to official ministry results, which did not include absentee ballots. The far-right, meanwhile, established itself as the third political force in Austria, with 18.0 percent for the Freedom Party (FPOe) and a surprising 11.0 percent for Joerg Haider's smaller Alliance for Austria's Future (BZOe).
The Greens had to settle for fifth place with 9.8 percent. A total 15 parties were listed on the ballot in Sunday's election, the highest number in Austrian electoral history, but most of them did not pass the 4.0-percent threshold to get into parliament. Participation stood at 71.4 percent, out of 6.3 million eligible voters, but some 586,700 absentees still had to be taken into account. These were to be tallied in the next week with full final results expected on October 6. In the last general elections in October 2006, voter participation was 78.49 percent, including absentee ballots.