Unity List (Austria)

The Enotna Lista (Slovenian for Unity List, German: Einheitsliste) or EL seeks to represent the autochthonous Slovene minorityinCarinthia. It came into existence in 1991, replacing the "Club of Slovenian Local Councillors" (Slovenian: Klub slovenskih občinskih svetnikov, German: Klub der slowenischen Gemeinderäte), which had existed as an initiative of local Slovenian party lists from various local councils. Slovenian party lists have regularly contested elections in Carinthia since 1950. The current chairperson of the EL is Vladimir Smrtnik.

Since the percentage of Slovenians in Carinthia is below the election threshold in the Carinthian Parliament (10%), the EL cannot represent the Carinthian Slovenes in the Carinthian or Austrian Parliament. In 1975 the EL missed a mandate in the Carinthian parliament by a few hundred votes (the vote tally then, of 6130, is the highest the party ever got after World War Two). In 1979, however, Carinthia was split up in four electoral districts, making it impossible for the EL to pass the threshold on its own, without making any electoral alliance. Therefore, on both Land and national levels, the EL has tended to participate in electoral unions (sometimes with the Greens, sometimes with the Liberal Forum). It is, however, represented on its own in several local councils in the bilingual region; currently, 52 local councillors are members of the EL.