Swiss federal election, 2015

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Swiss federal election, 2015
Switzerland
2011 ←
18 October 2015

All 200 seats in the National Council (101 seats needed for a majority)
All 46 seats in the Council of States (24 seats needed for a majority)
  First party Second party Third party
  Toni Brunner (Nationalrat, 2007).jpg Christian Levrat (Nationalrat, 2007).jpg Philipp Mueller (Nationalrat, 2007).jpg
Leader Toni Brunner Christian Levrat Philipp Müller
Party Swiss People's Social Democrats FDP.The Liberals
Leader since 1 March 2008 1 March 2008 21 April 2012
Leader's seat St. Gallen Fribourg Aargau
Last election 54+5 seats, 26.6% 46+11, 18.7% 31+11 seats, 15.1%
Seats before 54 + 5 46+11 31+11
Seats won 65 + ? 43 + ? 33 + ?
Seat change Increase11 Decrease3 Increase3
Percentage 29.4% 18.8% 16.4%
Swing Increase2.8pp [1] Increase0.1pp [2] Increase1.3pp

  Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party
  Christophe Darbellay 2.jpg Adèle Thorens-Goumaz.jpgRegula Rytz.jpg Martin Bäumle (2007).jpg
Leader Christophe Darbellay Adèle Thorens and Regula Rytz Martin Bäumle
Party Christian Democrats Greens Green Liberals
Leader since 2 September 2006 21 April 2012 20 July 2007
Leader's seat Valais Vaud (Thorens)
Bern (Rytz)
Zürich
Last election 28+13, 12.3% 15+2, 8.4% 12+2, 5.4%
Seats before 29+13 2+0 12+2
Seats won 27 + ? 11 + ? 7 + ?
Seat change Decrease 1 Decrease 4 Decrease 5
Percentage 11.6% 7.1% 4.6%
Swing Decrease0.7pp Decrease1.3pp Decrease0.8pp

  Seventh party Eighth party Ninth party
  Martin Landolt, 2009 2.jpg Marianne Streiff.jpg Attilio Bignasca (2007).jpg
Leader Martin Landolt Marianne Streiff Attilio Bignasca
Party Conservative Democrats Evangelical People's Lega
Leader since 5 May 2012 5 April 2014 7 March 2013
Leader's seat Glarus Bern Ticino
Last election 9+1 seats, 5.4% 2+0, 2.0% 2+0, 0.8%
Seats before 9+1 2+0
Seats won 7 + ? 2 + ? 2 + ?
Seat change Decrease 2 Steady Steady
Percentage 4.1% 1.9% 1.0%
Swing Decrease1.3pp Decrease0.1pp Increase0.2pp

Federal elections were held in Switzerland on 18 October 2015 for the National Council and the first round of elections to the Council of States. Provisional results[3] show a shift, due to voter concerns regarding refugee immigration, to the right and increased support for the three largest parties, with the strong showing of Swiss People's Party and FDP.The Liberals possibly having an impact on future reforms of energy, social security and tax issues, as well as the make-up of the seven-member government.[4] The Swiss People's Party won a record number of seats, taking a third of the 200-seat lower house.

Electoral system[edit]

The 200 members of the National Council were elected by plurality in five single-member constituencies, and by proportional representation in 21 multi-member constituencies, with the 26 constituencies based on the 26 cantons. The elections were held using the open list system where voters could cross out names on party lists, with voters also able to 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.[5]

The 46 members of the Council of States were elected in 20 two-seat constituencies (representing the 20 full cantons) and six single-member constituencies (representing the six half-cantons). In Jura and Neuchâtel the elections were held using proportional representation, whilst the other 24 use the majority system.[6]

Compulsory voting was in force in the canton of Schaffhausen for both elections.[7]

Campaign[edit]

The parties contesting the elections were:

Political party Leader Political spectrum
Swiss People's Party (SVP) Toni Brunner Right-wing
Social Democratic Party of Switzerland (SP) Christian Levrat Left-wing
FDP.The Liberals (FDP) Philipp Müller Centre-right
Christian Democratic People's Party of Switzerland (CVP/PDC) Christophe Darbellay Centre to Centre-right
Green Party of Switzerland (GPS) Adèle Thorens, Regula Rytz Left-wing
Green Liberal Party of Switzerland (glp) Martin Bäumle Centre
Conservative Democratic Party of Switzerland (BDP) Martin Landolt Centre-right
Evangelical People's Party of Switzerland (EVP) Marianne Streiff Centre
Ticino League (TL) Attilio Bignasca Right-wing
Alternative Left (AL) Frédéric Charpié Left-wing
Federal Democratic Union of Switzerland (EDU) Hans Moser Right-wing
Christian Social Party (Switzerland) (CSP) Marius Achermann Centre-left
Geneva Citizens' Movement (MCG) Roger Golay Right-wing

Opinion polls[edit]

Date Institution SVP SPS FDP CVP GPS BDP GLP EVP AL EDU LEGA CSP MCG Other
2 October 2015 Sotomo/20min 29% 18.4% 15.8% 11.4% 7.4% 4.9% 5.2% 7.9%
16 September 2015 Sotomo/20min 29% 17.6% 16.8% 11.2% 6.9% 4.9% 5.1%
21–28 August 15 GfS Berne/SSR 28.0% 19.3% 16.9% 11.1% 7.4% 4.2% 4.3% 1.7% 7.1%
24 June 2015 20min/Somoto 27.6% 18.2% 16.4% 12.0% 6.8% 4.9% 5.0% 13.0%
24 June 2015 GfS Berne/SSR 26.1% 19.3% 17.1% 11.5% 7.4% 4.4% 4.8% 1.9% 1.1% 0.9% 5.5%
31 March 2015 GfS Berne/SSR 26.2% 19.6% 16.3% 11.8% 7.5% 4.6% 5.6% 1.9% 1.0% 0.8% 4.7%
21 December 2014 Léger Marketing/Le Matin 23.8% 19.8% 15.7% 12.4% 8.2% 7.2% 7.4%
3 October 2014 GfS Berne/Le Temps 24.6% 20.1% 15.8% 11.2% 7.3% 4.8% 7.3% 1.8% 1.4% 1% 4.7%
30 March 2014 Léger Marketing/Le Matin 25% 19.4% 15.2% 12.2% 7.4% 6.9% 6.6%
27 September 2013 GfS Berne/SSR 25.8% 18.7% 14.7% 11.7% 8.3% 7.5% 5.8% 1.8% 1.2% 1.0% 1.0% 2.5%
15 September 2013 Isopublic/Le Matin 24.3% 19.6% 14.1% 13.1% 7.3% 6.1% 6.6%
21 October 2012 Isopublic/Blick 23.7% 19.5% 15.9% 12.9% 8.2% 6.9% 7.0%
16 September 2012 Isopublic/Le Matin 23.9% 19.3% 16.3% 13% 8.2% 6.2% 7.7%
25 March 2012 Isopublic/Le Matin 23.7% 19.9% 15.8% 12.1% 8.2% 7.0% 7.5%
23 October 2011 2011 Elections 26.6% 18.7% 15.1% 12.3% 8.4% 5.4% 5.4% 2% 0.5% 1.3% 0.8% 0.6% 2.3%

Results[edit]

Global media commented on the gains of the Swiss People's Party, linking it to concerns of the electorate on the European migrant crisis.[8][9][10][11]

In the Swiss capital Bern, a group of activists in favour of settling refugees held a demonstration on the day of the election, which is prohibited by law. A total of 110 were arrested.[12]

National Council[edit]

Party Votes % +/– Seats +/–
Swiss People's Party 740,954 29.4 +2.8 65 +11
Social Democratic Party 475,071 18.8 +0.1 43 −3
FDP.The Liberals 413,434 16.4 +1.3 33 +3
Christian Democratic People's Party 293,654 11.6 −0.7 27 −1
Green Party 177,938 7.1 −1.3 11 −4
Green Liberal Party 116,635 4.6 −0.8 7 −5
Conservative Democratic Party 103,462 4.1 −1.3 7 −2
Evangelical People's Party 1.9 −0.1 2 0
Federal Democratic Union 1.2 −0.1 0 0
Alternative Left 1.2 +0.3 1 +1
Ticino League 1.0 +0.2 2 0
Solidarity 0.5 +0.2 0 0
Swiss Party of Labour 0.4 –0.1 1 +1
Geneva Citizens' Movement 0.3 −0.1 1 0
Christian Social Party 0.2 −0.1 0 0
Swiss Democrats 0.1 –0.1 0 0
Others 2.4 +0.2 1 0
Invalid/blank votes
Total 100 0 200 0
Registered voters/turnout
Source: Statistics Switzerland, Elections 2015

References[edit]

  1. ^ Geiser, Urs. "Parliament shifts to the right". swissinfo.ch. Retrieved 19 October 2015. 
  2. ^ "Election 2015 results in graphics". Swiss Info (CH). Retrieved 19 October 2015. 
  3. ^ "Homepage Elections 2015". Retrieved 18 October 2015. 
  4. ^ Geiser, Urs. "Parliament shifts to the right". Swissinfo.ch. Retrieved 18 October 2015. 
  5. ^ Electoral system IPU
  6. ^ Electoral system IPU
  7. ^ http://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/__data/assets/electoral_commission_pdf_file/0020/16157/ECCompVotingfinal_22225-16484__E__N__S__W__.pdf
  8. ^ "Anti-immigration party wins Swiss election in 'slide to the Right'". The Daily Telegraph. Reuters. 19 October 2015. Retrieved 19 October 2015. 
  9. ^ "Anti-immigration SVP wins Swiss election in big swing to right". BBC News. 19 October 2015. Retrieved 19 October 2015. 
  10. ^ Larson, Nina (19 October 2015). "Swiss parliament shifts to right in vote dominated by migrant fears". Yahoo!. AFP. Retrieved 19 October 2015. 
  11. ^ "Amid rising fears over refugees, far-right party gains ground in Swiss election". Deutsche Welle. 19 October 2015. Retrieved 19 October 2015. 
  12. ^ "Polizei nimmt 110 Personen auf die Wache" [Police take 110 people to the police station]. Blick (in German). 18 October 2015. Retrieved 19 October 2015. 

External links[edit]