Extraparliamentary parties involved in the 2008 Austrian legislative election and the Communist Party of Austria, which has contested all elections in Austria since 1945, a number of other parties stated they planned to or were considering contesting the election. Parties require either the signatures of 3 MPs or the signatures 2,600 citizens (proportionally divided among the different states: 100 in Burgenland and Vorarlberg, 200 in Carinthia, Salzburg and Tyrol, 400 in Styria and Upper Austria and 500 in Lower Austria and Vienna) between 29 July 2008 and 22 August 2008 in order to stand. The signatures have to come from citizens who are eligible to vote in the election;
European Country Music Association European Country Music Association The European Country Music Association (ECMA) was established in 1994 in the United Kingdom and Spain by people related to the European country music scene, including publishers, DJs and musicians. It originally consisted of less than 100 members. The first president was the UK's Harry E. Fenton. After Fenton's death, Rafel Corbi--a DJ from Spain--was elected to the presidency, and he remains in charge of the organization, which is still a non-profit association. All members of the Board of Directors are volunteers. It was the first organization formed in Europe to promote country music at a