Elections in Switzerland
![]() |
This article is part of a series on the politics and government of Switzerland |
Elections
|
Elections in Switzerland gives information on election and election results in Switzerland.
Contents
Background[edit]
Switzerland elects on national level a head of state, the Federal Council, and a legislature. The Federal Assembly (Bundesversammlung/Assemblée fédérale/Asamblea Federale/Assemblea Federala) has two chambers. The National Council (Nationalrat/Conseil National/Consiglio Nazionale/Cussegl Naziunal) has 200 members, elected for a four-year term by proportional representation in multi-seat constituencies, the cantons.
The Council of States (Ständerat/Conseil des Etats/Consiglio degli Stati/Cussegl dals Stadis) has 46 members, elected for four years in 20 multi-seat and 6 single-seat constituencies which are equal to the 26 cantons and half-cantons. One of the members of the Federal Council assumes the honorific title of President of the Confederation for a one-year term. Switzerland has a multi-party system with numerous parties. A world-unique characteristic of Switzerland is that all the executives, from federal to municipal level, are plural and often include members from all main parties.
Elections to the National Council conclude on the penultimate Sunday of October. In most cantons, the first round of the election for the Council of States is held alongside the National Council election, while runoff stages are held 3 to 6 weeks later. The new Federal Assembly takes office at the start of the following year.
Schedule[edit]
Election[edit]
Position | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Type | Federal Council (October) Federal Assembly (October) Gubernatorial (October) |
None | Federal Council (October) Federal Assembly (October) Gubernatorial (October) |
None | ||||
Federal council | President and Vice President | None | President and Vice President | None | ||||
Federal Assembly | All seats | None | All seats | None | ||||
Provinces, cities and municipalities | All positions | None | All positions | None |
Inauguration[edit]
Position | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Type | Federal Council (January) Federal Assembly (January) Gubernatorial (January) |
Federal Council (January) | Federal Council (January) Federal Assembly (January) Gubernatorial (January) |
Federal Council (January) | ||||
Federal Council | 1 January by turn election | |||||||
Federal Assembly | 1 January | None | 1 January | None | ||||
Provinces, cities and municipalities | 1 January | None | 1 January | None |
Federal elections[edit]
Latest elections[edit]
Parties | Abbr. | Alignment | Ideology | Votes[1] | % | +/– (%) | Seats | % | +/– (seats) | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Swiss People's Party | SVP/UDC | Right wing | National conservatism | 648,675 | 26.6 | −2.3 | 54 | 27 | −8 | |
Social Democratic Party | SPS/PSS | Centre-left/Left-wing | Social democracy | 457,317 | 18.7 | +0.8 | 46 | 23.0 | +3 | |
FDP.The Liberals | FDP/PLR | Centre-right | Classical liberalism | 368,951 | 15.1 | −0.7 | 30 | 15.0 | −1 | |
Christian Democratic People's Party | CVP/PDC | Centre/Centre-right | Christian democracy | 300,544 | 12.3 | −2.2 | 28 | 14.0 | −3 | |
Green Party | GPS/PES | Left wing | Green politics | 205,984 | 8.4 | −1.2 | 15 | 7.5 | −5 | |
Green Liberal Party | GLP/PVL | Centre | Green liberalism | 131,436 | 5.4 | +4.0 | 12 | 6.0 | +9 | |
Conservative Democratic Party | BDP/PBD | Centre-right | Conservatism / Economic liberalism | 132,279 | 5.4 | +5.4 | 9 | 4.5 | +9 | |
Evangelical People's Party | EVP/PEV | Centre | Christian democracy | 48,789 | 2.0 | −0.4 | 2 | 1.0 | ±0 | |
Ticino League | LdT | Right wing | Regionalism / Right-wing populism | 19,657 | 0.8 | +0.2 | 2 | 1.0 | +1 | |
Geneva Citizens' Movement | MCG | Right wing | Regionalism / Right-wing populism | 10,714 | 0.4 | +0.3 | 1 | 0.5 | +1 | |
Federal Democratic Union | EDU/UDF | Right wing | Christian right | 31,056 | 1.3 | ±0 | 0 | 0 | −1 | |
Party of Labour | PdA | Left wing | Socialism | 21,482 | 0.5 | −0.2 | 0 | 0 | −1 | |
Christian Social Party | CSP/PCS | Centre-left | Christian left | 6,248 | 0.3 | -0.1 | 0 | 0 | -1 | |
Other | 54,622 | 2.2 | 1 | 0.5 | +1 | |||||
Total (turnout 48.5%) | 2,442,648 | — | — | 200 | — | — | ||||
Source: Swiss Federal Statistical Office (French) Statistics Switzerland (German) |
Parties | Ideology | 2007 | Seats | ± | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Christian Democratic People's Party (CVP/PDC) | Christian democracy | 15 | 13 | -2 | |
FDP.The Liberals (FDP/PRD) | Classical liberalism | 12 | 11 | -1 | |
Social Democratic Party (SPS/PSS) | Social democracy | 9 | 11 | +2 | |
Swiss People's Party (SVP/UDC) | National conservatism | 7 | 5 | -2 | |
Green Party (GPS/PES) | Green politics | 2 | 2 | ±0 | |
Green Liberal Party (GLP/VL) | Green liberalism | 1 | 2 | +1 | |
Conservative Democratic Party (BDP/PBD) | Conservatism / Economic liberalism | New | 1 | +1 | |
Independent | Independent | 0 | 1 | +1 | |
Total | 46 | 46 | |||
Source: http://www.politik-stat.ch/srw2011CH_de.html |
See also[edit]
Notes and references[edit]
- ^ These numbers represent fictional voters. See National Council for more details.
External links[edit]
- Adam Carr's Election Archive
- Parties and elections
- NSD: European Election Database - Switzerland publishes regional level election data; allows for comparisons of election results, 1991-2007