Swiss federal election, 2019

Switzerland
This article is part of a series on the politics and government of Switzerland
Constitution Human rights
Federal Council Members (by seniority) Doris Leuthard Ueli Maurer Simonetta Sommaruga Johann Schneider-Ammann Alain Berset (President) Guy Parmelin Ignazio Cassis Federal Chancellor Walter Thurnherr Federal administration
Federal Assembly Council of States (members) National Council (members) Political parties
Elections Voting Recent elections Federal: 2007 2011 2015 Referendums Mandatory Optional Popular initiative
Federal courts Federal Supreme Court Federal Criminal Court Federal Administrative Court Federal Patent Court
Foreign relations European Union
Administrative divisions Cantons Municipalities
Other countries Atlas

Federal elections are scheduled to be held in Switzerland in 2019 to elect all members of both houses of the Federal Assembly.

Subsequently there will be the 2019 election of the Swiss Federal Council, the federal executive, by the United Federal Assembly.

Date of elections

The elections for the National Council will be held nationally on 20 October 2019.

The cantons individually organise their elections for the Council of States, which all but one are to be held on 20 October 2019; the exception is the election in Appenzell Innerrhoden which will already take place in April.^[1] In some cantons, and depending on the result of the election on 20 October, a second round or runoff election may be required, typically during November 2019.

Electoral system

The 200 members of the National Council are elected from 26 constituencies, which are the 26 cantons. Six cantons are single-member constituencies in which seats are elected by first-past-the-post voting; the remaining 20 cantons each forms a multi-member constituency, in which members are elected by open list proportional representation; voters can cross out names on party lists, split their vote between parties (a system known as panachage) or draw up their own list on a blank ballot. Seats are allocated using the Hagenbach-Bischoff system.^[2]

The number of National Council seats each canton has is reflective of their respective population (including foreigners resident) and compared to the 2015 elections, by virtue of the official populations recorded at the end of 2016, Bern and Lucerne have each lost a seat whilst Geneva and Vaud have each gained a seat. The least-populous cantons have just one seat in the National Council — in 2019 there are six such cantons, four of which are half-cantons.^[3]

The rules regarding who can stand as a candidate and vote in elections to the National Council are uniform across the Confederation. Only Swiss citizens aged at least 18 can stand or vote and the citizens resident abroad can register to vote in the canton last resided in (or their canton of citizenship, otherwise) and be able to vote no matter how long since, or whether they ever have, lived in Switzerland.

The 46 members of the Council of States are elected in 20 two-seat constituencies (representing the 20 'full' cantons) and six single-member constituencies (representing the six half-cantons). Two 'full' cantons with small populations — Uri and Glarus — have therefore each two seats in the Council of States but only one seat each in the much larger National Council. In Jura and Neuchâtel the elections are held using proportional representation, whilst the other 24 use the majority system.^[4]

As each canton regulates its election to the Council of States, the rules regarding who can stand as a candidate and vote in these elections varies canton-by-canton. Jura and Neuchâtel allow certain foreign residents to vote, whilst Glarus allows 16- and 17-year-olds the vote. Swiss citizens abroad registered to vote in a canton are permitted to vote in that canton's Council of States election only if the canton allows it. Schaffhausen has compulsory voting, though limited in implementation by way of only an insignificant fine.

Opinion polls

External links

• Swiss Confederation Elections 2019

References