in parliament. In some cases, a national referendum can be called by the Austrian Parliament. In 2007, the voting age was lowered from 18 to 16 in all federal elections. Some states had already lowered the voting age for state and local election before 2007. Voting rights and restrictions Austrian election law distinguishes between the "active" right to vote and the "passive" right to be elected, i.e. stand as a candidate (actives vs. passives Wahlrecht), with different minimum-age requirements. Citizens who will have attained age 16 by election day and older may exercise the right to vote in elections at all levels of government. Citizens 18 and up may stand as candidates in elections except for presidential elections, in which the minimum age to stand as a candidate is 35. Citizens of other European Union member states with a permanent residence in Austria may vote in European Union elections and in municipal elections. Citizens who are sentenced to more than five years of imprisonment can lose their voting rights for the duration of their sentence if the judge determines that such a suspension is warranted. This preclusion period is shortened to one year for specific offenses (such as terrorism, voter fraud, and treason). Until 2011, members of current or former ruling noble houses (i.e. members of the Habsburg family) were ineligible for office. The Proportional Representation (PR) System in Austria The overall objective of Austria’s election system for parliament and other legislative bodies is to assure the proportional allocation of seats based on the share of the votes received by the political parties at the polls so that the composition of the legislative body will faithfully represent the preferences of the electorate. This system requires voters to select among political parties on their ballot, rather than among competing candidates. The standard manner of expressing that choice is by placing an ‘x’ in the circle next to the name of the party on the paper ballot (Stimmzettel). There is as yet no legal basis for e-voting in Austrian elections. Voters have some ability to affect the fortunes of particular candidates on their favored party’s list by casting preference votes. When doing so, however, they may not cross party-lines. Any preference votes for candidates of another party are invalid. Austria’s version of PR thus basically remains a party-list system despite the preference-vote feature. Conversion of votes to seats in federal parliamentary elections