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A legislative election to elect the members of the 11th Imperial Council were held in Cisleithania, the northern and western ("Austrian") crown lands of Austria-Hungary, on 14 and 23 May 1907. They were the first elections held under universal male suffrage, after an electoral reform abolishing tax paying requirements for voters had been adopted by the Council and was endorsed by Emperor Franz Joseph earlier in the year. However, seat allocations were based on tax revenues from the States.
Contents
Electoral system
Under the shadow of the Russian Revolution of 1905 and large-scale demonstrations organized by the Social Democrats, the emperor to placate the public had a reform of the former five-class franchise system drafted by Minister-President Paul Gautsch von Frankenthurn. His successor Baron Max Wladimir von Beck pushed it through, against fierce resistance from the Austrian House of Lords and the heir to the throne, Archduke Franz Ferdinand.
Elections in the constituencies of "the Kingdoms and Lands represented in the Imperial Council" were held according to a plurality voting system. If no candidate received the required absolute majority on May 14, only the two candidates receiving the most votes survived to the second round on May 23. In this way 516 representatives of the constituent crown lands were elected, among them 130 from Bohemia, 106 from Galicia, 64 from Lower Austria, and 49 from Moravia. The numerous political associations were again split according to ethnicity ("nations"), with a result that no government could ever rely on a stable majority.
Results
The right-wing Christian Social Party emerged as the largest bloc in Parliament, holding 96 of the 516 seats, followed by the Social Democratic Workers' Party of Austria with 87 seats. The Christian Socials won most rural constituencies in Upper and Lower Austria, Styria, Salzburg, Tyrol, and Vorarlberg). They also achieved the majority in the capital Vienna, benefitting from the popularity of Christian Social major Karl Lueger. In the German constituencies of Bohemia and Moravia, but also in Carinthia, the German national parties (German People's Party et al.) achieved strong results. The Social Democrats had their strongholds in the cities, beside Vienna also in Graz, Salzburg, Innsbruck, Brno or Linz. Voter turnout was 84.6%.