Swiss referendum, November 2009

On 29 November 2009, the citizens of Switzerland voted on a referendum to decide on three proposals on the federal level:

• a ban on the construction of new minarets (without retroactive effect on four existing Swiss minarets), passed with 57% in favour; The referendum took place following a campaign to ban minarets in the country.
• a ban on exporting matériel (war supplies), rejected with 68% against;
• a prescription that money collected from aviation fuel taxation should be used for aviation matters, passed with 65% in favour.

There were numerous other issues voted upon at the cantonal and municipal levels.

Minaret ban

The results of the November 2009 referendum by canton. Red indicates opposition to the ban of minarets, green support of the ban.

Main article: Minaret controversy in Switzerland

Only one political party, the right wing Swiss People's Party supported the referendum. It aimed at stopping the "Islamization of Switzerland". The initial initiator of the referendum was then member of Swiss People’s Party Daniel Streich.

Early exit polls suggested that the proposal had been passed at plebiscite. According to gfs.bern the motion received 58% of the votes, then 59% with a turnout of about 55%.

Final results indicated that 57.5% (1 534 054 citizens) of voters had approved the proposals to ban minarets, out of a 53.4% turnout. Only 3½ cantons out of 23 rejected the proposals.

Key to above graph:

Horizontal axis: abbreviations of Swiss cantons

Red: percentage opposed to ban

Green: percentage supporting ban

Arms export

Switzerland

This article is part of the series: Politics and government of Switzerland

Constitution Human rights Federal Council List of members Doris Leuthard Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf (Pres. 12) Ueli Maurer (VP 12) Didier Burkhalter Simonetta Sommaruga Johann Schneider-Ammann Alain Berset Federal Chancellor Corina Casanova Federal administration Federal Assembly Council of States List of members National Council List of members Political parties Elections Voting in Switzerland 2003 2007 2011 Federal courts Federal Supreme Court Federal Criminal Court Federal Administrative Court Foreign relations Switzerland and the European Union Subdivisions Cantons Municipalities

Other countries · Atlas Politics portal

The arms referendum sought to ban the export of military weapons and ammunition, in order to further reduce Switzerland's involvement in war. Current law prohibits the exports of materiel to countries involved in armed conflict, or violating human rights. Industry warned of possible job losses if passed, and the cabinet recommended against it saying that existing legislation offers enough protections. The group backing the initiative argued that weapons exports contradict the country's neutrality. A similar initiative was defeated in 1997.

Voters rejected the proposal by 68.2%, with 31.5% in favour of the measure. Turnout was 53%.

Aviation fuel taxation

The aviation fuel tax referendum was initiated by centre-right and right members of parliament to direct much of the taxes on kerosene to airport spending. Previously two-thirds of the taxes collected were spent on road safety, with the rest going to the federal general fund. The initiative directs the two-thirds to aviation safety and environmental concerns, with the remainder continuing to be used for discretionary spending.

Voters approved the measure with 65% in favour.

Cantonal items

In the canton of Obwalden, the voting population turned down plans to reserve sections of land for the wealthy, officially designated "high quality standard of life zones of cantonal interest". These zones were part of Obwalden's strategy of increasing tax attractiveness in competition with other cantons. The referendum was successfully opposed by the cantonal section of the Swiss Green Party. Obwalden already has a flat tax system for the benefit of its rich residents, and attempted to introduce a regressive tax system, which was ruled unconstitutional by the Swiss Federal Court.