Elections in Switzerland

See also: Voting in Switzerland

Elections in Switzerland gives information on election and election results in Switzerland.

Background

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

Election

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

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

See also

• Swiss Federal Council election
• Zauberformel

External links

• 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