The right-wing Freedom Party (FP) continued its string of defeats in local mayoral and town council elections in Lower Austria province on Sunday. According to computerized estimates aired by ORF television after the polls closed at 5.00 p.m. local time, the conservative People's Party (VP), traditionally dominant in the province, easily defended its number one place. The Social Democrats (SP) made gains, mostly at the cost of the FP. The Greens improved marginally from the last elections in 2000, but were still at a low level in many rural areas. ORF's estimate gave the VP 59.4 per cent (plus 0.4), SP 33.7 (plus 3.6), FP 2.6 (minus 4.0), and Greens 0.9 (plus 0.4). Independent candidates had 3.3 per cent. The elections took in 570 towns and villages, with nearly 11,700 council seats at stake. Nearly 1.4 million of Austria's eight million population were eligible to vote. --More 2330 Local Time 2030 GMT
