regard. In the area of granting Austrian citizenship, hardship cases keep occurring systematically due to a lack of discretionary latitude. In her investigative activities, Ombudsperson Terezija Stoisits had to deal with a number of exemplary cases. Communication with the public People took widespread advantage of the opportunity to contact the AOB personally, by phone or in written form in a completely un­bureaucratic way in 2009. 8,000 people contacted the information service of the AOB either in person or by phone for initial information, to lodge a concrete complaint about a government agency or state authority or to enquire about the status of their proceeding. About 13,200 letters and e-mails arrived in the offices in the Singerstrasse. These communications noted concrete problems with government agencies or had the purpose of obtaining various facts and legal information. The correspondence between the employees of the AOB and people who suspected maladministration on the part of a government authority at federal, regional and local levels actually rose compared to the previous year by 20% and comprised more than 23,100 pieces of correspondence. About 8,800 letters and e-mails were exchanged with authorities. Communication with citizens Communication with the Public 8,000 people contacted the information service personally or by phone 13,200 people wrote to the AOB 23,100 documents made up all of the correspondence 8,800 letters and e-mails were sent to authorities 1.34 million hits at the website www.volksanw.gv.at about 307,000 people watch the weekly TV show "Bürgeranwalt" ("Advocate for the People") 13