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;
Vorarlberg Rhine Valley areas of Bregenz and Dornbirn, live about 180,000 people, around half the population of Vorarlberg. The "green lung" of this region is the Vorarlberg Ried, which is on the border with Switzerland and is surrounded by the settlements of Vorarlberg on three sides. Geographically the Lower Rhine Valley also includes the municipality of Altach. Due to its historical links with the municipality of Götzis and membership of the district of Feldkirch, Altach is often considered part of the Oberland. Vorarlberg Rhine Valley The Vorarlberg Rhine Valley (), also called the Vorarlberg Oberland and Unterland, is a section of the Alpine